Untitled (Kungka Kutjarra/Two Women/Hairstring Skirts) 2006

Makinti Napanangka made this untitled painting with acrylic on canvas to represent Kungka Kutjarra, two women wearing hairstring skirts. The artwork emerges from a context of Aboriginal art moving from body and ground painting, to canvas, for commercial sale. The painting, made by an artist of the Pintupi language group in Australia, evokes the desert landscape. The parallel lines could be read as sandhills, but they also represent the ceremonial skirts worn by women during specific rituals. This reflects the increasing visibility and importance of women artists in Aboriginal art. Napanangka’s work, like that of many Aboriginal artists, blends the personal and the political. It affirms cultural identity and resists the pressures of assimilation. Art historians use oral histories, ethnographic studies, and linguistic analyses to uncover the cultural significance embedded in such art. It allows us to understand the complex interplay between tradition, innovation, and the assertion of cultural sovereignty.