Tangentyere Artists
Established in 2005, Tangentyere Artists is an Aboriginal owned, not-for-profit enterprise for Town Camp Artists.
When Tangentyere Artists began, Jukurrpa Artists, Warumpi and Sandover Arts (all art centres previously operating in Alice Springs) had closed. Irrkerlanyte Arts and Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra were servicing a limited number of Town Camp families. Tangentyere Artists was established with the express aims of combatting the prevalence of carpetbaggers, providing professional and career development opportunities to artists and operating an industry best practice enterprise.
Today, Tangentyere Artists is the central hub for arts activities across the Town Camps. This includes the internationally renowned Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, located at Larapinta Town Camp. We work to a studio, gallery and outreach program, supporting emerging and established artists.
Tangentyere Artists also welcome Aboriginal artists visiting town from remote communities, offering an open and safe environment where people from across Central Australia can sit down together to create artworks and share artistic skills as well as stories. Tangentyere Artists is committed to innovative, sustainable, fine art outcomes for Town Camp Artists. We are renowned for figurative paintings, diversity of mark making, rich colour palettes and embracing traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art making. Our practice includes short animations.
Through their art, Town Camp artists communicate stories about their families, identity and everyday lives. Their contemporary art practice aims to show the everyday experience of Aboriginal people in Central Australia and through this work Tangentyere Artists have become part of the national conversation on reconciliation.
Courtesy of Tangentyere Artists
Artworks
Artist Profile/s
Carbiene McDonald
‘This is Petermann Range near Kaltukatjara – that’s Docker River [Community]. Puta Puta, Tjunti, Muliati. This is my father’s Country’.
Carbiene’s father was Snowy McDonald. He, like many other Pintupi-Pitjantjatjara people eventually moved east and north to refuges such as the Lutheran Mission at Ernabella, and Areyonga, during difficult drought times about 60-70 years ago. Some even ended up in Papunya once it opened as a Government Reserve in the early 1960s, as was the case of Carbiene's father.
The shapes Carbiene paints represent an abstracted form of a series of important waterholes through the Petermann Ranges. Some of these sacred places now also have small Family Outstations or Homelands established nearby. For example, Tjunti is the name of a family outstation named for a soakage where the Hull River cuts through the Petermann Ranges. This is where Lasseter took refuge during his ill-fated expedition in search of gold. The cave he was found in near Tjunti is called Kuḻpi Tjuntinya (now commonly called Lasseter's Cave in English).
The Petermann Ranges have now been designated an area of Conservation significance and the government work closely with local families in managing the area.
Carbiene is a Papunya Tjupi artist, having joined Papunya Tjupi Art Centre in 2018 and launching his career along with a cohort of emerging young male artists. Papunya is 250km West of Alice Springs, and when Carbiene visits Alice Springs he paints with Tangentyere Artists. Tangentyere Artists and Papunya Tjupi have a good working relationship, with several artists from each art centre coming from the same families. Tangentyere Artists’ figurative painter Betty Conway is Carbiene’s Aunty and Carbiene stops at Betty’s when in town.
Courtesy of Tangentyere Artists