Tjukurrpa: The Dreaming

About

The exhibition spotlights the extraordinary work of Indigenous Australian artists, most notably Emily Kam Kngwarray (c.1910-1996), the celebrated Anmatyerr painter now recognised globally as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.

In anticipation of Kngwarray’s upcoming retrospective at Tate Modern, Tjukurrpa: The Dreaming arrives in London as a unique opportunity to take a wider look at the sublime power of one of the world’s oldest continuous painting traditions, featuring work from Kngwarray herself, as well as her contemporaries and others later impacted by her work.

Alongside Kngwarray, the exhibition features prominent figures from the East Kimberly Art Movement and Western Desert Movement, including Rover Thomas Joolama, Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrla, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Makinti Napanangka, Tommy Watson and Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi.

For Indigenous Australian and First Nation peoples, Tjkurrpa or The Dreaming represents an eternal continuum where ancestral spirits shape life, landscapes and sacred sites. Transmitted through stories, art, ceremony, and song, the Dreaming is a vibrant reality deeply connected to specific places and central to identity, with individuals and cultural groups acting as custodians of particular Dreamings that guide their spiritual practices and relationships.