Kulata Tjuta: Tirkilpa
22 Feb – 13 Jul 2025
Level 1, Gallery 15
Free
Kunmanara (Peter) Mungkuri, Yankunytjatjara people, (1946 - 2021), near Indulkana, South Australia, 2018, image courtesy Iwantja Arts and APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rhett Hammerton
'The spear is our culture … we live by the spear. We are teaching our young people with spears to look after lore and culture. The spears can protect Country, like they have always been protecting Country for our grandfathers and our ancestors.'
About
Alec Baker, Yankunytjatjara people, and Kunmanara (Peter) Mungkuri, Yankunytjatjara people, (1946 - 2021), near Amaroona, South Australia, 2017, image courtesy Iwantja Arts and APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rhett Hammerton
Kulata Tjuta is an ongoing cultural maintenance project that shares the skills of carving and making the punu kulata (wooden spear) across generations. It started as a project involving a small group of men in Amata and has grown to include over 100 Aṉangu men across the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
Kulata Tjuta: Tirkilpa is the largest and most significant installation of the culturally important and visually spectacular Kulata Tjuta (Many Spears) Project. Like others in the series, it is rooted in age-old traditions, knowledge and skills that are designed around keeping Country and culture strong.
The Kulata Tjuta project was formally established in 2010 at Tjala Arts in the community of Amata, when Mick Wikilyiri (c 1938 Pitjantjatjara), Frank Young (c 1949 Pitjantjatjara), Barney Wangin (1939–2012 Pitjantjatjara), Tiger Palpatja (c 1920–2012 Pitjantjatjara), Hector Burton (c 1937–2017 Pitjantjatjara) and Ray Ken (c 1940–2018 Pitjantjatjara) formally conceived of the project under the direction of Willy Kaika Burton (c 1941 Pitjantjatjara).
The artistic outcomes take the form of large-scale, multi-disciplinary installations which incorporate film, sound, live performance and other artistic collaborations.
Artists
Anwar Young, Pitjantjatjara people, making kulata (spears) in Amata, South Australia, 2018, image courtesy APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rohan Thomson
Moses Brady, Pitjantjatjara people, Kamurin Young, Pitjantjatjara people, and Frank Young, Pitjantjatjara people, making kulata (spears) at Amata, South Australia, 2017, image courtesy APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rhett Hammerton
Arnold Dodd, Pitjantjatjara people, Sammy Dodd, Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people, and Frank Young Pitjantjatjara people, in Mimili Community, South Australia, 2023, image courtesy APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rohan Thomson
Gordon Ingkatji, Pitjantjatjara people, (c1930 - 2016), Sammy Dodd, Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people, Witjiti George, Pitjantjatjara people,and Mick Wikilyiri, Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people, at Ernabella, South Australia, 2015, image courtesy of Tjala Arts, photograph: Tjala Arts
Stanley Young, Pitjantjatjara people, and Kamurin Young, Pitjantjatjara people, near Amata, South Australia, 2018, image courtesy APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rohan Thomson
Alec Baker, Yankunytjatjara people, with kulata in Indulkana, South Australia, 2017, image courtesy Iwantja Arts, photograph: Iwantja Arts
Willy Kaika Burton, Pitjantjatjara people, (1941 - 2020), and Hector Burton, Pitjantjatjara people, (c1937 - 2017), with kulata (spears) at Tjala Arts, Amata, South Australia, 2014, image courtesy Tjala Arts, photograph: Tjala Arts
Keith Stevens, Pitjantjatjara people, near Nyapari, South Australia, 2015, image courtesy Tjungu Palya and APY Art Centre Collective, photograph: Rhett Hammerton
