Tinpulya Mervyn is part of the art center Inkutji Artists.

Tinpulya was born in the bush at Kelvin Well a soak near Kunmapi (Kenmore Park) in South Australia in 1945. Her parents had travelled from Watarru to the mission at Ernabella where they worked as shepherds. As a child she remembers making the journey back to Watarru with her parents where they exchanged dingo skins for flour, tea and sugar. Tinpulya has a passion for teaching traditional law and culture to her grandchildren so they grow up strong and proud.

She is a respected community leader and has Ngankari (sacred healing) knowledge. Cultural knowledge is handed down orally in the retelling of the Tjukurpa (tradional stories of the ancestors’ journeys), which not only sustains Anangu (Aboriginal people) physically, but socially and spiritually. Tjukurpa painting depicts a fragment of a larger story, a living history where an ancestor was involved in creating country. Individuals have authority and ownership of this land and the associated sites and stories. The maintenance of this country is paramount to artists of Watarru and they are proudly working with the Department of Environment and Heritage SA continue to care and manage the land with respect and responsibility. The senior artists from Watarru have received high acclaim for their stunning collaborative paintings.

Tinpulya along with her sister Wipana are the leading hands in these works. Their initial collaborative works were commissioned by the Department for Environment and Heritage SA and now hang permanently in the South Australian Parliament. In 2007 they won a major prize in the Drawing Together competition sponsored by the Australian Public Service Commission, a competitive award, which attracted over 570 entries from across Australia.

 

Awards:

  • 2007 – Drawing Together, Caring for Country Award, The Australian Public Service Commission in partnership with the National Archives of Australia and the National museum of Australia. ‘Kuku Kanyini’ 2007

Selected Exhibitions:

 

SOURCE: Ikuntji Artists