Tjungkara Ken (born 1 October 1969) is a

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are v ...

artist from

Amata, South Australia Amata (formerly Musgrave Park) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Pukatja, Kaltjiti, Indulkana, Mim ...

, in the

APY lands Annual percentage yield (APY) is a normalized representation of an interest rate, based on a compounding period of one year. APY figures allow a reasonable, single-point comparison of different offerings with varying compounding schedules. Howev ...

. She began painting in 1997, when Minymaku Arts was opened by the women of Amaṯa. She started painting professionally in 2008. By that time, the artists' co-operative had been renamed

Tjala Arts Tjala Arts, formerly known as Minymaku Arts, is an Aboriginal Australian-owned and -managed arts centre located in the remote community of Amata, South Australia, Amata in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankuny ...

Themes

Ken's paintings depict stories and figures from her personal ' ( Dreaming), the spirituality that is associated with her ancestor's homeland. Her father is from the country around Amaṯa and Walitjara, and Ken most often depicts this country and its ' in her paintings. She also illustrates her mother's country, which is further west, near

Irrunytju Wingellina or Irrunytju Community is a small Indigenous Australian community in Western Australia located about north east of Perth near the Western Australian-South Australian border in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia. T ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Exhibitions and awards

Ken's paintings have been featured in group exhibitions in many of Australia's major cities. Some of her work was also part of an exhibition in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, Austria in 2002. One of her paintings, titled '' – My Country'', was chosen as a finalist for the

National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...

in 2010. It was bought by a private collector. A painting depicting the ' (Seven Sisters Dreaming), was chosen by the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

as the prize for a competition run during the Gallery's ''Desert Country'' exhibition in 2011. Ken's painting from the Art Gallery of South Australia's permanent collection was also included in the exhibition and featured on the cover of the ''Desert Country'' catalogue. The exhibition featured works by several artists from across the

Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely populated Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people, located in the remot ...

lands, including Maringka Baker,

Nura Rupert Nura Rupert was an Australian Aboriginal artist from north-west South Australia. She was also a ''ngangkari'' (a traditional healer among Anangu people) until her death in 2016. She produced two primary kinds of art works. She produced her print ...

and Jimmy Baker. Examples of Ken's work are shown in the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. Opened on 2 December 2006, the GOMA is Australia's l ...

, and the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

. It is also held in several major private galleries in Australia. She was an

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

finalist in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, with her ''Kungkarangkalpa tjukurpa (Seven Sisters dreaming), a self-portrait''. She was awarded the Roberts Family Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prize for ''Seven Sisters'', her entry in the 2021

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

Family links

There are many other artists in Ken's extended family, working out of Tjala Arts. When working with her four sisters—

Yaritji Young Yaritji Young (born c. 1956) is a Pitjantjatjara woman artist from Pukatja, a community within the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and she now lives at Rocket Bore; a homeland north of Amata. Young is a significant Australian Aborig ...

, Freda Brady, Sandra Ken and

Maringka Tunkin Maringka Tunkin (born 1959) is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Central Australia. Life Tunkin was born at Mulga Park in the south-west of the Northern Territory, near the South Australian border in 1959. She is the daughter of Mick Wikilyiri, who ...

—the group is known as the Ken Sisters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ken, Tjungkara 1969 births Living people 21st-century Australian painters Indigenous Australian artists Pitjantjatjara people 21st-century Australian women painters