Cushion Cover | Watiya Tjuta tree by Mitjili Napurrula

The Watiya Tjuta tree in Mitjili Napurrula's paintings is her father's Tjukurrpa (dreaming) in Ilyingaungau country (Gibson Desert). This was passed down to her by her mother in the same way, drawing the story as it is told in the traditional way.

Local label Better World Arts work with Aboriginal artists from remote communities across Australia, from Arnhem Land to Central and the Western Desert regions, to create beautiful, functional artworks for the home.

Designed in Australia and handmade in Kashmir, these cushions are a cultural and economic exchange between Australian Aboriginal artists and traditional cottage industry artisans in Kashmir.

Artist information: 

MITJILI NAPURRULA

Language: Luritja
Community: Mount Liebig

Mitjili grew up in Papunya and moved to Haasts Bluff with her late husband Long Tom Tjapanangka in the late 1980's during the outstation movement.  The couple started painting at Ikuntji in 1992 with the opening of Ikuntji Women's Centre, both contributing significantly to the emerging art movement there. She gained an international following after winning the Alice Springs Art Prize in 1999.

The Watiya Tjuta in Mitjili's paintings is her father's Tjukurrpa (dreaming) in Ilyingaungau country (Gibson Desert). This was passed down to her by her mother; she remembers  "After I got married, my mother taught me my father's Tjukurrpa in the sand, that's what I'm painting on the canvas", a women’s interpretation.

Mitjili lived at an outstation close to Papunya where she continued to paint in her later years, along side her family and fellow artists such as Ann Lane nee Dixon. Mitjili passed away in April 2019.