Tjungu Palya is an Aboriginal owned and governed art enterprise, located about 100kms south of Uluru, in Nyapari community, set at the base of the majestic Mann Ranges in the heart of country traditionally owned by the Pitjantjatjara people. These ranges known to Aṉangu as Murputja, likening the mountain to the bony ridge of a person’s spine, are the source of many water holes and traditional camping places.
The Art Centre sees a small group of top tier Australian painters gather daily to work on major exhibitions and private commissions whilst handing on knowledge to a group of talented emerging artists. It is not uncommon for four generations of one family to be gathered at the Art Centre, painting, singing and retelling the Tjukurpa. It is a hive of activity, of fun, of culture and creativity. Tjungu Palya also plays a central economic and role in the future sustainability of the small remote communities of Nyapari and Kanpi.
The artists are known as early innovators with a significant stylistic influence on the wider APY art movement. They are culturally knowledgeable and connected to country, making regular visits to dreaming sites and homelands to conduct maintenance, collect bush foods or materials and to camp.
Tjungu Palya has developed a reputation for producing large scale works which travel around Australia and internationally to be exhibited and collected. Works from Tjungu Palya’s top artists are held by all the major Australian institutions and several significant private collections both nationally and internationally.
The homelands of Kanpi and Nyapari, have grown from seasonal camping places into permanent settlements. Over fifty artists from Murputja joined together with family members living in traditional country 180kms to the south at Watarru and created Tjungu Palya, which translates as Good Together and refers to this collaboration between the homelands.
Tjungu Palya has a great facility, providing professional studios for local artists.
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Industry
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Retail Art Dealers
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Company size
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2-10 employees
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Headquarters
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Nyapari Community, South Australia
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Type
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Nonprofit
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Founded
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2006
