Our History
Tjala Arts was started by the women of Amata in 1997 and was originally called Minymaku Arts (Ladies Arts), it was renamed in 2006 to reflect the involvement of Anangu men in the art centre.
Aboriginal art and craft has been produced in Amata since the 1970’s but it was usually sold through the occasional exhibition or to the very few passing tourists or government employees.
In 1981 a group of Amata people took their punu (wood carvings) to Uluru (Ayers Rock) to gain access to the expanding tourist market.
Following the success of this venture, the art centre was established and the artists expanded their craft-based skills to fine arts practice including painting (acrylic on canvas/linen) and printmaking.
The centre is now a highly successful fine art centre creating exhibition standard work in a variety of mediums.
Our Future
Tjala Arts will continue to create artwork that reflects the lives and stories of the Amata community.
2009 will see the gallery participate in many more exhibitions including the Chapman Gallery, Canberra, Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Randall Lane, Perth, Alcasten Gallery, Melbourne, Marshall Arts, Adelaide and Putipula Gallery, Noosa and the Aboriginal and Pacific Art Gallery, Sydney.
Exhibited works by Ruby Williamson, Tiger Palpatja, Ray Ken and Hector Burton are continuing to garner attention with their traditional imagery, symbols and narrative combined with unadulterated abstract application of colour. The strong stylistic variations between the works of the individual artists at Tjala Arts have become our trademark and continue to generate unprecedented interest from collectors and galleries, nationally and internationally.
New artists like Wawiya Burton and Tjungkara Ken are tipped to excite indigenous art markets throughout 2009.
Our new art centre built in early 2009 ensures the growing business is facilitated effectively.
News of the new art centre building has invigorated artists in the area, and brought with it a wave of new artists. We are very excited about this new generation of artists working with Tjala Arts.