Emily Kam Kngwarray

A large scale publication accompanying a major exhibition celebrating the monumental art of Emily Kam Kngwarray.

One of the twentieth century’s most significant painters, Emily Kam Kngwarray (c.1914–1996) translated her lived experience and cultural engagement with her Anmatyerr homelands in Central Australia into vibrant batiks and monumental paintings on canvas. In her vast and astonishing oeuvre, Kngwarray embodied the majestic scope of her Country and ancestral heritage. She layered motifs representing the plants, animals and geological features that formed the desert ecosystems around her. Her unique style and powerful creative vision redefined Aboriginal art and gained worldwide attention.

Created in collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), this is the first large-scale presentation of the artist's work ever held in Europe and a celebration of her astonishing career. Generously illustrated, the publication brings together Kngwarray's most significant works and includes archival material and a visual record of community consultations and visits to Kngwarray's Country.

Kelli Cole is a Warumungu and Luritja woman from Central Australia and the Director of Curatorial & Engagement, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia.

Jennifer Green is a linguist based in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne.

Hetti Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon Senior Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

With contributions from Stephen Gilchrist, Patsy Kemarr Long, Kimberley Moulton, Judy Kngwarray Greenie, Barbara Kngwarray Long, Jean Kngwarray Long, Margaret Kngwarray Long, Melissa Kngwarray Long, Jedda Kngwarray Purvis, Jennifer Kngwarray Purvis, Josie Petyarr Kunoth, Sophia Lunn, Dylan River, Chrischona Schmidt, and Brenda Thornley.