Urapunga Arts

Urapunga is a small Aboriginal community nestled between the Roper and Wilton Rivers, below the southern border of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The Ngalakgan People have lived on and cared for the area, including Urapunga, since time immemorial. Their custodianship is present in the landscape, in the burial caves and rock art shelters, the cultivated Country and living descendants spread between Ngukurr, Urapunga and beyond.

(Image: Urapunga community, Northern Territory)

The community was initially established to service the cattle industry and is now rightfully owned by traditional custodians and home to approximately 180 people. Artists in Urapunga have maintained a strong connection to art and storytelling, building on generations of knowledge with contemporary techniques, colours and styles. Painting, weaving and carving make up most of the art practice at Urapunga while some of the younger generations are beginning to explore textile and jewellery practices.

(Image: Urapunga Elder and Artist Margaret Duncan painting with ochre)

The artists draw their inspiration from the living Country surrounding Urapunga. The monsoonal savanna, with golden escarpments and grassy plains, provides fertile grounds for wallabies, bush turkey and plains kangaroo to thrive, while the pandanus-lined rivers and billabongs are habitat to a wide variety of fish, turtles, waterlilies, and crocodiles. This liveliness is reflected in the themes, colours and materials presented, showcasing Urapunga’s unique interpretations of Country and culture.

(Image: Jessie Daniels and Dora Collins harvesting pandanus with elders)

Urapunga Arts, an emerging arts enterprise supported by not-for-profit organisation Circulanation. Together their goal is to create a sustainable art and cultural enterprise, to share and celebrate culture, and provide economic prosperity for future generations.