Anita Mbitjana Ratara

Anita Mbitjana Ratara is a senior artist at Hermannsburg Potters. Anita was ‘born bush’ in the alukura (women’s camp) near Hermannsburg. She is the mother of prominent potter Hayley Coulthard. Anita’s youngest daughter Alizha is an emerging artist. She attended the Hermannsburg Mission school, and later went on to work in the clinic. She also recalls making moccasins, or ‘fancy work’, for the missionaries. As a young woman, Anita taught herself to paint. She was taught pottery by Naomi Sharp in the early 1990s, when the pottery program was located at the outstations. Anita continues to reside mostly at her outstation, Ipalala. Anita mostly depicts Palm Valley in her work, of which she is a Traditional Owner. Palm Valley is Anita’s grandfather’s Country.