This is pmara nukanga kuta, near to my Country at Imurlkna, Mount Zeil. All of my family went camping. Then they make kwintjia, windbreak. And then they made shade, people can sit down in shade.
My Aunty making damper. They catch two fish and, give it to my Aunty. Another Aunty cook lunch and boil the billycan. Another damper, they put ’em in the oven. And two billycan boiling, one of my cousin, another my Uncle’s.
The kids went swimming. And some kuka mapa (little ones) they didn’t go swimming, water was a little bit deep. The lid, that’s my cousin digging for water. Soakage water, people always drink. And my Mother and my Father drink. And my brothers and my little sister, she was baby. I was little bit grow up, maybe 6, maybe 8 years old.
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.”
Desert Mob is presented annually in Mparntwe | Alice Springs on Arrernte Country.
On behalf of Desart’s staff and art centre members, the Executive Committee humbly and respectfully acknowledge the Arrernte Apmereke Artweye (Traditional Owners) and Kwertengerle (Traditional Managers) of Mparntwe.
Desart respectfully advises Aboriginal readers that this website may contain names, images and artworks of people who have passed away.
