Mai Uninypa: Roy Yaltjanki 27 Apr - 18 May 2024

Pastor Roy Yaltjangki has spent a lifetime acquiring knowledge – knowledge of the bush and hunting, how to survive and thrive off Country; of God, spirituality and Tjukurpa; of family and community; and of knowledge itself and how to communicate it. The works in this exhibition have emerged over the past year. While Roy has painted and carved punu before, his involvement with Kaltukatjara Art had been sporadic up until May 2023, when he walked into the art centre, asked for a canvas, and sat down to paint. Since then, he has painted almost daily from open until close, often humming or singing as he works. Now over ninety, Roy seems to have decided on painting as a way to record his knowledge and express his love of country. He has methodically depicted the places which matter most to him, beginning at his birthplace and working outwards geographically to paint the country which he experienced first as a child, then as a young man, and now as a senior leader and cultural knowledge keeper. Roy’s goal with these works is to convey a vision of these places as he saw them as a child – beautiful, special, powerful, and full of life.