Spinifex ArtsProject

Tjuntjuntjara sits deep in the Great Victoria Desert, roughly 560 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie, and its purpose-built studio is where Spinifex artists gather most days to paint. The centre grew out of the community's fight for native title: senior painters submitted collaborative canvases as evidence in the case that returned Spinifex land to its traditional owners in 2000, and painting has stayed tied to that history ever since. Alongside the main studio sits Milpa, a small multimedia space used for stop-motion animation projects. The work travels widely for a centre this remote — recent showings include the Kluge-Ruhe collection at the University of Virginia and solo exhibitions at New York's National Arts Club. Tjuntjuntjara itself is on Aboriginal land, and visiting means applying for a permit through Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation before setting out. It is a genuine expedition rather than a drop-in stop, among the more remote working art studios anywhere in Australia.