Ananguku Arts and Culture

Ananguku Chairperson Inawinytji Williamson with an Ernabella work, part of the recent Flinders University Art Museum exhibition of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara art at the State Library of South Australia.

Sam Ken, Wakalpi Roberts, Ainslie Hatches and Terrence Curley and the Emu Dance at Tandanya during the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

The girls too were an important part of Ananguku's Inma Project, which presented Inma as the official opening performance of the Australia Council's Performing Arts Market in Adelaide.

Ananguku Arts & Culture Aboriginal Corporation was founded in 1997 as the development body representing the artists and art centres of APY Lands. It is governed by a Committee elected by the membership (comprised of artists from across the Lands) and works to a strategic plan that sees the arts not just as a valuable economic and cultural activity but also as a means of making communities stronger.

Ananguku manages a variety of projects and brings significant new funds to help develop the creative strengths of Anangu artists and bring new resources to the making and selling of art. It also assists in developing the performing arts.

In recent years Ananguku has successfully lobbied Commonwealth and South Australian Governments for better recognition of APY art and artists. This has led to recognition of the organisation as a Key Organisation by the Australia Council for the Arts and has brought special commitments from both governments for its ongoing activities.

Recent projects include: print-making workshops in the four art centres with master print-maker Basil Hall; a homeland painting workshop at Watinuma; major exhibitions in Adelaide, Darwin and Sydney; Inma at the Adelaide Festival, Womadelaide and the Adelaide Fringe Festival; a major exhibition of children's drawings, Tjukurpa Kuwaritja at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute; the upgrade of some systems and facilities at each art centre; the Rope Story project at Womadelaide 2003, which brought Elders together with children at Adelaide's Wiltja school for Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara children to learn stories; and an Inma development project aimed at increasing the number of young Anangu learning stories and dances from the Elders.

Ananguku is currently assisting with the development of art sales and marketing plans for the region and is hoping to employ a "roving" arts coordinator later this year to help artists working in the remoter western homelands and communities that don't have art centres.

Members come together in general meetings at least four times a year to discuss and develop projects and the art centres at Ernabella, Iwantja, Kaltjiti and Minymaku provide crucial assistance to Ananguku in delivering those programs.

Ananguku receives assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, from ATIS, and from the Government of South Australia through Arts SA.

A/g Chairperson: Alison Carroll
Coordinator: Colin Koch
Project Officer: Inawinytji Williamson
Admin Office: 4 Howe Street Crafers SA 5152
Ph/fax: 08 8339 3857
E: coordinator@ananguku.com.au