Mai Uninypa
Roy Yaltjanki
27 Apr
2024
2024
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.
Installation View
Artworks
Artist Profile/s
Pastor Roy Yaltjanki
Lives
Roy was born c.1933 in the bush near present day Kaltukatjara (Docker River). Roy grew up in the Kaltukatjara area with his family, and remembers this as a time of plenty when the abundance of bush food and fresh water sustained many Anangu. In around 1942, he andhis family walked for days across a vast salt lake to the Areyonga Mission. Roy went to school at the Mission, but as a young manreturned to his home country. He married his first wife and they had several children together; when she passed away, he remarried with renowned ngangkari Pantjiti McKenzie AO. He now lives in Kaltukatjara (Docker River) community with many generations of his family. Roy has been painting and carving punu (wooden artefacts) for decades. Pastor Roy has a strong love for his country, underpinned by his deep spiritual knowledge. Roy is also an ordained Christian minister, and continues to be a spiritual guide and leader for his community. With his paintings, Pastor Roy offers viewers visions of his country as he saw it as a young man: beautiful, bountiful, lively, and full of joy.