Judith Inkamala Pungarta is former Chair and senior member of Hermannsburg Potters, having joined the founding group of artists in 1993. Judith is an inspiring leader in her community of Ntaria (Hermannsburg), respected for her unwavering dedication and commitment to intergenerational sharing of cultural and ceramic knowledge. Judith is also a proud former member of the renowned Hermannsburg Choir. Judith’s first solo exhibition, Atha Yia Nukanha Ilama (I gotta tell my story / I’m telling my story), opened at the Art Gallery of South Australia in October 2023 as part of Tarnanthi. Judith was awarded the 2022 Australia Council Award for Visual Arts for her lifetime of achievement with Hermannsburg Potters and dedication to arts and cultural work in Ntaria.
In her works, Judith depicts her lived histories and distinct Western Arrarnta Country. She sculpts and paints these visual histories and contemporary settings, speaking to her cultural beliefs, traditions and values. With 30 years’ experience working with clay and underglazes, Judith’s work is as skilfully painted as the pot is constructed. Like many Hermannsburg Potters and Western Arrarnta artists, Judith’s painting style was informed by the watercolours of Albert Namatjira and the artists working in Ntaria at this time. “I remember the old people painting on paper. Painting the watercolours. I was best friends with Gillian Namatjira. After school I went to her house. Albert, her grandfather, was painting watercolours. The ladies painted too.”
