DOB: c. 1932

BORN: Kumil, Pollock Hills, Western Australia
LANGUAGE GROUP: Pintupi
COUNTRY: Kintore

 

Naata Nungurrayi (c. 1932–24 September 2021) was one of the senior elders of the Kintore women's artist movement, and today her works are highly sought after by galleries and collectors around the world. Naata is a full blood sister to the late Nancy Nungurrayi Ross, sister to George (Hairbrush) Tjungurrayi, and mother to Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa – all highly respected artists in their own right.

 

Naata and her family came to Papunya from the desert bush in April 1962, and were brought into a camp by Jeremy Long, who was operating patrols out of Darwin. When Walungurru (Kintore) was established as the main Pintupi settlement in early 1982, Naata moved there with Pintupi people from her camp and from the west camp at Papunya. Naata started painting in late 1994 at Kintore along with other women artists from the Haasts Bluff community, and began commissioned paintings for Papunya Tula artists in 1996. The Dreamings that Naata paints depict sacred women's sites and women's ceremonies in the Kintore and Kiwirrkura region. As an elder and through her lineage, Naata was one of the few women to have permission to paint certain features of these Dreamings.

 

Naata's artworks have been frequently exhibited in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), and in 2002 (the 19th NATSIAA), she was awarded "Highly Commended". In 2003, Naata was honoured with having one of her paintings chosen to appear on an Australia Post International stamp, and in 2004, she was named among the Top 50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists by Australian Art Collector.

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