Women's Business 2000 by Ningura Napurrula, 130x61cm Cat 5166NN

Ningura Napurrula, a renowned Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist, is celebrated for her unique style that vividly portrays her birthplace near Tjukurla in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. This region is deeply significant due to its association with the Tingari Cycle from the Jukurrpa (Creation Era). Born in 1938 in the Kiwirrkurra Community and passing in 2013, Ningura’s dynamic and richly detailed compositions have gained international acclaim.

Her artistic journey began in 1996 when she, alongside other elderly women from Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, started painting for Papunya Tula Artists. Her first solo exhibition was held in 2000 with William Mora Aboriginal Art, followed by numerous group shows. Ningura's works are distinguished by their heavy layers of acrylic paint and vibrant, dynamic designs.

"Women's Business 2000" captures the ceremonial gatherings of women celebrating the journeys of the Tingari Ancestors who shaped the landscape during the Creative Era. This painting showcases her distinctive grid-like patterns representing sandhills (tali) and red ochre circles symbolizing rockholes (puli).

Ningura's talent was further recognised with a site-specific commission for the ceiling of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and her artwork featured on Australian postage stamps in 2003. She was also named one of the 50 Most Collectable artists by Australian Art Collector Magazine in 2007 and 2008. The Tingari Cycle, a secret and sacred aspect of her work, involves ancestral travels and rituals that shaped the land, preserved in song cycles essential to Pintupi cultural teachings.