Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra / Many Hands Art Centre is proudly Aboriginal owned and operated and is situated in the township of Alice Springs.
The non-for-profit organisation started operating in 2004, as an art centre established to provide a place for Arrernte Artists to come together to paint, share and learn new techniques and ideas.
The art centre is strongly committed to improving economic participation of Aboriginal people and maintaining cultural heritage.
Marilyn Armstrong, a prominent artists and also a Ngurratjuta board member, says of the art centre: "It’s a place where we can sit and talk together about the Dreamtime and learn from each other." Ngurratjuta Many Hands supports a range of well-established contemporary watercolour and acrylic artists who frequently exhibit interstate as well as many new and emerging artists who are developing their skills.
The art centre produces four specific styles of art including watercolours, traditional dot style, naïve style and the more contemporary style paintings.
The artworks tell many different stories and are completed in a variety of techniques including, intricate and subtle brush strokes, distinct and detailed dot work as well as broad and often bold freestyle use of acrylic paints and colours.
Ngurratjuta Many Hands currently support over 300 artists with a special focus on encouraging the ‘Hermannsburg School’ style watercolour artists, who continue to paint in the tradition of their grandfather and relative, Albert Namatjira, arguably one of Australia’s most famous artists of the 20th century.
Albert Namatjira taught his children to follow in his unique style, who have since passed this knowledge on to their children, which has resonated in a legacy of watercolour artists in the Central Desert region.
By continuing his legacy, these artists sustain an important piece of living history.
Ngurratjuta Many Hands is proud of its ethical work practises, and aims to return the greatest possible percentage of the sale to the artist.
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