Artist | BERNARD TJALKURI

Artist | BERNARD TJALKURI


Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by BERNARD TJALKURI of Tjungu Palya Artists. The title is Tjitji Tjuta. [18-154] (Synthetic Polymer on Linen)

BERNARD TJALKURI

Tjitji Tjuta

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by BERNARD TJALKURI of Tjungu Palya Artists. The title is Tjitji Tjuta. [PB10-39/40] (Silkscreen Print - Edition of 40)

BERNARD TJALKURI

Tjitji Tjuta

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by BERNARD TJALKURI of Tjungu Palya Artists. The title is Tjitji Tjuta. [16-17BT1] (Digital Print - Edition of 50)

BERNARD TJALKURI

Tjitji Tjuta

Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by BERNARD TJALKURI of Tjungu Palya Artists. The title is Tjitji Tjuta. [16-BT2-17/50] (Digital Print - Edition of 50)

BERNARD TJALKURI

Tjitji Tjuta

Bernard Tjalkuri was born in the bush at Waltja rockhole close to the homeland of Kunumata in the far north west of the Pitjantjatjara Lands of northern South Australia in 1930. His mother's country is Watarru and his father's place is Aparatjara, which is located near Kanpi community.

Bernard lived a traditional nomadic life in the desert prior to contact with Europeans. He remembers seeing whitefellas travelling through his country as they headed west to the Warburton Mission when he was a young man.

Bernard has the authority to paint many stories associated with his traditional country. He is an important community elder with a wealth of knowledge of the Law or Tjukurpa. This cultural knowledge is handed down orally in the retelling of the Tjukurpa (traditional stories of the ancestors’ journeys), which not only sustains Anangu (Indigenous people) physically, but socially and spiritually. Tjukurpa painting depicts a fragment of a larger story, a living history where an ancestor was involved in creating country. Individuals have authority and ownership of this land and the associated sites and stories. The maintenance of this country is paramount to artists of Watarru and they continue to care and manage the land with respect and responsibility.



Bernard Tjalkuri was born in the bush at Waltja rockhole close to the homeland of Kunumata in the far north west of the Pitjantjatjara Lands of northern South Australia in 1930. His mother's country is Watarru and his father's place is Aparatjara, which is located near Kanpi community.

Bernard lived a traditional nomadic life in the desert prior to contact with Europeans. He remembers seeing whitefellas travelling through his country as they headed west to the Warburton Mission when he was a young man.

Bernard has the authority to paint many stories associated with his traditional country. He is an important community elder with a wealth of knowledge of the Law or Tjukurpa. This cultural knowledge is handed down orally in the retelling of the Tjukurpa (traditional stories of the ancestors’ journeys), which not only sustains Anangu (Indigenous people) physically, but socially and spiritually. Tjukurpa painting depicts a fragment of a larger story, a living history where an ancestor was involved in creating country. Individuals have authority and ownership of this land and the associated sites and stories. The maintenance of this country is paramount to artists of Watarru and they continue to care and manage the land with respect and responsibility.



A Stockroom Collection of Desert Gems

A Collection of Tjungu Palya Indigenous Art