Arlpwe Art & Culture

Arlpwe Art & Culture Centre sits on Kaytetye Country in Ali Curung, an Aboriginal community about 400km north of Alice Springs. The Art Centre opened in 2008, and the name ‘Arlpwe’ (pronounced Ahl-boa) was chosen for the Art Centre by the Traditional Owners.

We represent artists from the Kaytetye, Alyawarr Warlpiri and Warumungu nation. Ali Curung, or Alekarenge, means Dog Dreaming or 'belonging to the dog'.

Dreamtime stories have a physical trace in the landscape ­— specific landscape features relate to specific parts of stories that travel through the landscape, waterways and the sky. In Kaytetye, the Dreamtime is called Altyerre. In Alyawarr Altyerr, In Warlpiri Jukurrrpa, and in Warumungu Winkara.

The landscape surrounding Ali Curung is very important for the Arlpwe artists. Local bush foods, bush medicines, water and animals are often the subject of their paintings. We were taught about the bush by our elders and extended families and know plants by their traditional names, in our four languages.

You can easily visit the Art Centre in person as we are on a sealed road just 22kms (12 minutes drive) off the Stuart Highway, between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek.

Courtesy of Arlpwe Art & Culture Centre