Women's Ceremonyby Julianne Turner Nungarrayi

Julieanne Turner Nungurrayi was born on 9th July 1974 at Yuelamu also known as Mount Allen, just outside of Yuendumu Community approximately 3 hours from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Julieanne is a Warlpiri woman and the daughter of well known Warlpiri artist Maureen Hudson Nampitjinpa.

Having a highly talented artist as her mother, Julieanne was supported, encouraged and taught her painting skills by her mother. Julieanne began to paint as a cultural activity and hobby in 1992 and has continued to do so ever since. For a number of years she worked as the artist in residence for Mulgara Gallery at Ayers Rock.

Julieanne’s paintings depict bush medicine, women’s ceremonies, Budgerigar which is a native bird species found around Australia as well as the Bush Onion. She uses traditional Aboriginal iconography throughout her artworks, depicting sacred sites, women hunting and gathering, animal tracks and various other important symbols. Her artworks are very popular and Central Art has been extremely privileged to have been one of the first galleries to feature her paintings. Her paintings hold appeal as they are affordable, highly detailed with traditional iconography and extremely well executed.

Julieanne relocated to Adelaide in South Australia to provide better opportunities to her children in terms of education but returns to Alice Springs and Warlpiri country regularly. She has two children and her eldest Farren Furber Jampitjinpa is a promising young artist. All the skills that were passed down to Julieanne from her mother she has in turn shared with her son.

I (Sabine Haider, Director, Central Art) always enjoy spending time with Julieanne. She is forever promoting her culture and heritage through her paintings and discussions with people. She is a cheerful and friendly artist and will happily share her experiences and the meanings and symbolism behind her art.

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