Batiks from Kintore[1-2]Aboriginal ArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts on Australian aboriginal textiles and artwork.
Untitled Artworks (Exhibition - ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions) Tjariya (Nungalka) Stanley and Tjunkaya Tapaya, Ernabella Arts (Australia)
ArtCloth from the Tiwi Islands
Aboriginal Batik From Central Australia
ArtCloth from Utopia
Aboriginal Art Appropriated by Non-Aboriginal Artists
ArtCloth from the Women of Ernabella
ArtCloth From Kaltjiti (Fregon)
Australian Aboriginal Silk Paintings
Contemporary Aboriginal Prints
Batiks from Kintore
Batiks From Warlpiri (Yuendumu)
Aboriginal Batiks From Northern Queensland
Artworks From Remote Aboriginal Communities
Urban Aboriginal ArtCloths
Western Australian Aboriginal Fabric Lengths
Northern Editions - Aboriginal Prints
Aboriginal Bark Paintings
Contemporary Aboriginal Posters (1984) - (1993)
The Art of Arthur Pambegan Jr
Aboriginal Art - Colour Power
Aboriginal Art - Part I
Aboriginal Art - Part II
The Art of Ngarra
The Paintings of Patrick Tjungurrayi
Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part I
Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part II

Introduction
The batiks of Kintore were generated by a small group of Pintupi women, who created them after doing workshops on the batik process. The ArtCloths were discarded, but fortunately for us, were found by Marina Strocchi (art coordinator) in a dusty corner in the Ngintaka Women’s Center. Most of the modern Pintupi artists migrated from cloth to canvas, with many of the artists gaining national and international recognition. This blog will concentrate on the batik ArtCloth from Kintore[1]. To see more of their current art, visit:

Kintore Art.

Lutheran Church At Kintore.

Kintore (Walungurru) is a small community located 530 kilometers west of Alice Springs (Northern Territory, Australia). The community sits at the foot of culturally important hills named Pulikatjara (which translates as “two hills”). The population varies according to cultural activities and so fluctuates from 250 to 500 people. The community was established in 1981 when the Pintubi people moved back to their traditional country from Papunya.

Location of Kintore.

The Kintore batiks were the result of a project overseen by Jill Squires and Therese Honan, who were employed by the Ngintaka Women Center from 1994-1995 by the Aboriginal Education Unit of the Department of Education[2]. The motivation for the Spires was for the Pintupi women to produce doona covers, thereby providing them with an income stream. Peta Smith, a local Alice Springs artist, had done batik workshops in Kintore in the 1980s, thereby providing the foundation for he Squires batik project in 1994[2].

AGM at Kintore.

The Kintore batiks typically incorporate desert symbols, such as “U” shapes, sequential dots, circles and windbreaks. These symbols surface in their rock art, sand drawings, and sacred objects[2]. They speak of spirituality that intersects with their geographical locality, and so is embedded within their ancient law that structures their lives.

Bush Tucker (native food).

Batik ArtCloth from the Kintore Women
Below is some of the batik ArtCloth from Kintore Women’s batik workshop.

Alice Nampitjinpa – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 111.8 cm x 215 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Alice Nampitjinpa – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 112.3 cm x 195 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Collaborative Work – Untitled (1994).
Alice Nampitjinpa, Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa, Tjunkiya Napaltjarri, Wintjiya Napaltjarri, Irene Nangala, Katarra Nampitjinpa.
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 111.8 cm x 196 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Alice Nampitjinpa – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 113.2 cm x 219 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Katarra Nampitjinpa – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 113.3 cm x 156.6 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Tjinkiya Napaltjarri – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 112.3 cm x 195 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Wintjiya Napaltjarri – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 112.4 cm x 173.5 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].

Wintjiya Napaltjarri – Untitled (1994).
Technique: Batik on cotton.
Size: 112.7 cm x 152.7 cm.
Courtesy reference[1].


References:
[1] J. Ryan et al., Across The Desert – Aboriginal Batik from Central Australia, Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2008).
[2] M. Strocchi in, J. Ryan et al., Across The Desert – Aboriginal Batik from Central Australia, Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2008).