Ningura Napurrula

Ningura Napurrula (born c.1938 – 2013) was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from the Western Desert, whose work was internationally acclaimed. Her works included a site-specific commission for the ceiling of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, as well as appearing on an Australian postage stamp.

Personal life Napurrula was born circa 1938 in Watulka, south of Kiwirrkurra in the East Gibson Desert, Western Australia. Her first journey out of the desert was in 1962 with the Northern Territory Welfare Branch patrol, when her son needed medical treatment at Papunya. She travelled with her son and her husband, Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi, back to Kiwirrkurra that year.

Napurrula died on 11 November 2013 from kidney disease. Her sons Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri (Mawitji) and Adam Gibbs Tjapaltjarri are painters, as well as her daughter Glenys Napaltjarri.

Career It was through her husband, Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi's painting that Napurrula first began work as an artist, supporting the production of his work, alongside his two other wives. It was there that she developed her signature style of diachrome patterns, with occasional use of colour.

After her husband's death in 1998, the volume of paintings she produced increased. Comparisons have been drawn between her work and that of other Papunya Tula artists, such as Makinti Napanangka and Inyuwa Nampitjinpa. The palette she used and the way the paint is layered on the canvas is seen as reminiscent of how body paint is used by women in ceremonial activities.

Early works examined a range of subjects, but later in her career much of Napurrula's work focussed on the rockhole site of Wirrulnga, which was closely associated with birth and women's lives.

During her lifetime, Napurrula donated works to set-up and support the Western Desert Dialysis program. Her first solo exhibition was at William Mora Aboriginal Art in 2000. Her work has been exhibited in dozens of other exhibitions. Her work is held by a number of significant galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where several works are part of the larger suite Tjukurrpa Palurukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya – same stories, a new way. Other collections include: National Gallery of Australia.

Musée du Quai Branly In 2006 Napurrula with three other female and four male artists were commissioned by the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris to produce new works for its ceilings and roof. She saw this as the pinnacle of her career.

Awards 2002 - Highly Commended in the Alice Prize