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- Artist: Martha Protty
- Title: Kungka Kutjara
- Size: 76 x 100cm
- Art Centre: Kaltukatjara Art
- Region: Western Desert
Martha Protty is a senior law woman and multidisciplinary artist working across
painting and tjanpi weaving.
Martha was born south of Docker River at a Rockhole, the name of which Martha
cannot speak for cultural reasons. Her whole family are from Docker River country.
Matha's father's country is Warakurna and her mother's country is near Wingellina.
She has one son and one daughter and her husband has passed away. Her husband
was from the other side of the Peterman Ranges.
Martha has been painting, weaving tjanpi (desert grasses) and carving purnu (wooden
sticks) for many years. She is a senior law woman and holds important tjukurrpa songs
for her country.
Martha is a lively character and even at nearly 90 years old, she remains a strong
singer and cultural knowledge-keeper. Her works refer to the Kungka Kutjara tjukurpa,
the Two Sisters songline which runs through Kaltukatjara.
Kungka Kutjara
As a senior law woman of the Kaltukatjara area, Martha's work draws significant
inspiration from local landscape and Tjukurpa (dreaming) stories. Martha's
whole family have lived and traveled in the Kaltukatjara area for generations,
and her paintings are a tribute to her significant cultural and historical
contribution to her community.
In this work, Martha interprets the Kungka Kutjara Tjukurpa, meaning Two
Women. Kungka Kutjara is a creation story following two sisters who travel
through the desert leaving significant landmarks in their wake. Martha's
painting focuses on a significant cultural site just outside Kaltukatjara where the
two sisters stopped to rest under two big shade trees. It also shows features of
the striking desert landscape such as kapi (rock holes), purnu (trees) and puli
(rocks).
Martha is a lively and animated artist whose works draw a connection between
the physical and spiritual realms of her life. She sings Inma (ceremony) songs
continuously as she paints, her steady voice offering a rhythm for the brush.
