Kungkarrakalpa Tjukurpa
2009
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
109 x 196.5 cm
Corrigan Collection
© The artist and Tjungu Palya
Wingu was a respected senior woman who painted various subjects associated with her Country, with a major theme related to a site near her birthplace, Kura Ala. Kura Ala is an important site for the Kungkarakalpa or Minyma Tjuta (Seven Sisters) Tjukurpa, a narrative that traverses the landscape across the desert regions belonging to Anangu people. She is well known for her gestural and vivid paintings that capture the power of the land and its stories. As Wingu explains of her work:
This is my country. This is Kungkarakalpa Tjukurpa (Seven Sisters). Secret Country for women. The seven sisters were stopping close up to Kura Ala. The women were travelling all over running away from Wati Nyiru. He was a lustful, cheeky man.
Kunmanara (Wingu) Tingima
Born: c.1920s Nyumum, Great Victoria Desert WA
Died: 2012
Pitjantjatjara language group
Art Centre: Tjungu Palya, Nyapari SA
Kunmanara (Wingu) Tingima was born at Nyumum, the site of a sacred men’s place in the Great Victorian Desert. She grew up in the bush before later travelling on foot with her parents to the community established at Ernabella where she learned to spin wool at the Ernabella Arts centre.
In 2001 she was instrumental in the formation of Irrunytju Arts, an arts centre supporting painting by artists from the Western Desert at Wingellina, approx 12km west of the Western and South Australian borders. She later moved with her family to Nyapari and with a group of senior artists, established the Tjungu Palya art centre.
