Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri
Encyclopedia
Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri (also referred to as Susie Bootja Bootja Napangardi, Napangarti, or Napangati) (c. 1935 – 16 January 2003) was an Indigenous artist
from Australia's
Western Desert
region. Born south-west of Balgo, Western Australia
, in the 1950s Susie Bootja Bootja married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra, with whom she had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula (also an artist).
Susie Bootja Bootja's painting career followed the establishment of Warlayirti Artists, an Indigenous art centre at Balgo. One of the area's strongest artists, her work was characterised by an expressive style, and has been acquired by major Australian galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales
and National Gallery of Victoria
. She died in 2003.
; the country is called Kaningarra in her own language, a name that appears as the title of one of her art works. The ambiguity around the year of birth is in part because Indigenous Australians operate using a different conception of time, often estimating dates through comparisons with the occurrence of other events. While sources vary as to Susie's skin name
(some indicating Napangarti, others Napaltjarri), the similar birth dates, locations, and work history indicate that all are referring to the one individual.
'Napaljarri
' (in Warlpiri) or 'Napaltjarri' (in Western Desert dialects) is a skin name, one of sixteen used to denote the subsections or subgroups in the kinship system of central Australian Indigenous people. These names define kinship relationships that influence preferred marriage partners and may be associated with particular totems. Although they may be used as terms of address, they are not surnames in the sense used by Europeans. Thus 'Susie Bootja Bootja' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Susie Bootja Bootja was of the Kukatja language group. She married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra at Old Balgo in the 1950s, and they had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula (born 1960), who also became an artist. Susie Bootja Bootja died on 16 January 2003.
. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing body painting and ground sculptures, rapidly spread across Indigenous communities of central Australia, particularly following the commencement of a government-sanctioned art program in central Australia in 1983. By the 1980s and 1990s, such work was being exhibited internationally. The first artists, including all of the founders of the Papunya Tula
artists' company, had been men, and there was resistance amongst the Pintupi men of central Australia to women painting. However, there was also a desire amongst many of the women to participate, and in the 1990s large numbers of them began to create paintings. In the western desert communities such as Kintore
, Yuendumu, Balgo, and on the outstations
, people were beginning to create art works expressly for exhibition and sale. Art centres were important to this widespread creation of art works.
Susie Bootja Bootja was represented by Warlayirti artists at Balgo, where she was living and working in the 1990s. She was one of the strongest painters at Balgo. The work of Balgo artists such as Susie Bootja Bootja, and her fellow artists including Sunfly Tjampitjin and Wimmitji Tjapangarti, are characterised by an expressive style, involving "linked dotting and blurred forms and edges".
Works by Susie Bootja Bootja are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Flinders University
Art Museum Collection. She is also represented in major private collections, such as Nangara (also known as the Ebes Collection), the Holmes à Court Collection and the Morven Estate. Works by both Susie Bootja Bootja and her husband were included in a 1991 exhibition 'Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu' in Paris, and in 'Daughters of the Dreaming' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia
in 1997. Her paintings feature in Christine Watson's 2003 book, Piercing the Ground: Balgo Women's Image Making and Relationship to Country.
Susie Bootja Bootja helped choose the site for, and participated in, a major ceremony for a 1993 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
documentary film, Milli Milli. The ceremony, called Wati Kutjarra (Two men) Dreaming, was performed with others including fellow artist Peggy Rockman Napaljarri
.
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians. It is generally regarded as beginning with a painting movement that started at Papunya, northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 1971, involving artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri...
from Australia's
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
Western Desert
Western Desert cultural bloc
The Western Desert cultural bloc or just Western Desert is a cultural region in Australia covering about 600,000 square kilometres, including the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia...
region. Born south-west of Balgo, Western Australia
Balgo, Western Australia
Balgo is a small Aboriginal Community in Western Australia which is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The Community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road . It has a petrol station, supermarket, Catholic Parish, School Adult Education Centre, Clinic and...
, in the 1950s Susie Bootja Bootja married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra, with whom she had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula (also an artist).
Susie Bootja Bootja's painting career followed the establishment of Warlayirti Artists, an Indigenous art centre at Balgo. One of the area's strongest artists, her work was characterised by an expressive style, and has been acquired by major Australian galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
and National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
. She died in 2003.
Life
Susie Bootja Bootja was born circa 1935 near Kurtal, or Helena Spring, south-west of Balgo, Western AustraliaBalgo, Western Australia
Balgo is a small Aboriginal Community in Western Australia which is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The Community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road . It has a petrol station, supermarket, Catholic Parish, School Adult Education Centre, Clinic and...
; the country is called Kaningarra in her own language, a name that appears as the title of one of her art works. The ambiguity around the year of birth is in part because Indigenous Australians operate using a different conception of time, often estimating dates through comparisons with the occurrence of other events. While sources vary as to Susie's skin name
Australian Aboriginal kinship
Australian Aboriginal kinship is the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Australian Aboriginal culture...
(some indicating Napangarti, others Napaltjarri), the similar birth dates, locations, and work history indicate that all are referring to the one individual.
'Napaljarri
Napaljarri (skin name)
Napaljarri or Napaltjarri is one of sixteen skin names used amongst Indigenous Australian people of Australia's Western Desert, including the Pintupi and Warlpiri. It is one of the eight female skin names...
' (in Warlpiri) or 'Napaltjarri' (in Western Desert dialects) is a skin name, one of sixteen used to denote the subsections or subgroups in the kinship system of central Australian Indigenous people. These names define kinship relationships that influence preferred marriage partners and may be associated with particular totems. Although they may be used as terms of address, they are not surnames in the sense used by Europeans. Thus 'Susie Bootja Bootja' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Susie Bootja Bootja was of the Kukatja language group. She married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra at Old Balgo in the 1950s, and they had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula (born 1960), who also became an artist. Susie Bootja Bootja died on 16 January 2003.
Art
Background
Contemporary Indigenous art of the western desert began when Indigenous men at Papunya began painting in 1971, assisted by teacher Geoffrey BardonGeoffrey Bardon
Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM 1940, Sydney – 6 May 2003) was an Australian school teacher who was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal art of the Western Desert movement, and in bringing Australian indigenous art to the attention of the world....
. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing body painting and ground sculptures, rapidly spread across Indigenous communities of central Australia, particularly following the commencement of a government-sanctioned art program in central Australia in 1983. By the 1980s and 1990s, such work was being exhibited internationally. The first artists, including all of the founders of the Papunya Tula
Papunya Tula
Papunya Tula, or Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 that is owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative work with the Western Desert Art Movement, popularly referred to as "dot painting"...
artists' company, had been men, and there was resistance amongst the Pintupi men of central Australia to women painting. However, there was also a desire amongst many of the women to participate, and in the 1990s large numbers of them began to create paintings. In the western desert communities such as Kintore
Kintore, Northern Territory
Kintore is a remote settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia, located approximately 530 km west of Alice Springs and close to the border with Western Australia. At the 2001 census, Kintore had a population of 691, of which 95% identified themselves as Aboriginal...
, Yuendumu, Balgo, and on the outstations
Outstation movement
The Outstation movement refers to the relocation of Indigenous Australians from towns to remote outposts on traditional tribal land.As described in the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody a range of problems faced Aboriginal people living in towns.During the 1980s a number of groups...
, people were beginning to create art works expressly for exhibition and sale. Art centres were important to this widespread creation of art works.
Career
The Balgo community did not establish an art centre for more than ten years after their colleagues at Papunya, with artistic activities commencing when an adult education centre was opened in 1981. However once Warlayirti Artsts was set up, the community went on to become one of Australia's most successful Indigenous art centres. Painting at the centre is a sociable, communal activity, and Susie Bootja Bootja would reguarlly collaborate with other painters, including her husband.Susie Bootja Bootja was represented by Warlayirti artists at Balgo, where she was living and working in the 1990s. She was one of the strongest painters at Balgo. The work of Balgo artists such as Susie Bootja Bootja, and her fellow artists including Sunfly Tjampitjin and Wimmitji Tjapangarti, are characterised by an expressive style, involving "linked dotting and blurred forms and edges".
Works by Susie Bootja Bootja are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Flinders University
Flinders University
Flinders University, , is a public university in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of navigator Matthew Flinders, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in the early 19th century.The university has established a reputation as a leading research...
Art Museum Collection. She is also represented in major private collections, such as Nangara (also known as the Ebes Collection), the Holmes à Court Collection and the Morven Estate. Works by both Susie Bootja Bootja and her husband were included in a 1991 exhibition 'Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu' in Paris, and in 'Daughters of the Dreaming' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia
The Art Gallery of Western Australia is a public gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth, Western Australia. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia...
in 1997. Her paintings feature in Christine Watson's 2003 book, Piercing the Ground: Balgo Women's Image Making and Relationship to Country.
Susie Bootja Bootja helped choose the site for, and participated in, a major ceremony for a 1993 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
documentary film, Milli Milli. The ceremony, called Wati Kutjarra (Two men) Dreaming, was performed with others including fellow artist Peggy Rockman Napaljarri
Peggy Rockman Napaljarri
Peggy Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region...
.
Collections
- Art Gallery of New South WalesArt Gallery of New South WalesThe Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
- Flinders University Art Museum Collection
- National Gallery of VictoriaNational Gallery of VictoriaThe National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
- Holmes à Court collectionJanet Holmes à CourtJanet Holmes à Court, AC, HFAIB is an Australian businesswoman, and one of Australia's wealthiest women. She is the Chairman of one of Australia's largest private companies, Heytesbury Pty Ltd, having turned around its fortunes after the death of her husband Robert Holmes à Court in 1990...