McCulloch & McCulloch @ Salt Contemporary

THE KANPI CAR SHOW: a special exhibition by the Baker family and related artists of Tjungu Palya to raise funds for a 4WD for ceremonial purposes

March 5–25, 2012 Artists in conversation with Susan McCulloch OAM: Sat March 11, 5pm followed by opening drinks 6 pm. Curators floor talk: Sun March 12, 3 pm.

NINE artists of the tiny Indigenous-owned homeland community of Kanpi in ’s far north-west have spent the summer months painting a selection of very special works for this exhibition. Their aim is to raise funds to purchase a top-of-the-range 4WD to be used specifically for ceremonial journeys.

All members of one extended family, the artists - Marita Baker, Kay Baker, Ruth Fatt, David Miller, Teresa Baker, Milpati Baker, Maureen Baker, Kani Patricia Tunkin and Anton Baker - work with the arts centre Tjungu Palya, based at , 15 km from their tiny community.

Most are relatives of the late great artist and traditional healer Jimmy Baker (c.1915-2010) who co-founded the homeland community in the 1990s with two male cousins. Just near the tri-state corner of WA, SA and the NT it is supremely beautiful country, described by explorer Ernest Giles as the most beautiful he had seen in Australia on his first explorations in 1863.

Central to many of the works is the dramatically beautiful Kanpi waterhole and the Emu Dreaming (Kalaya Tjukurpa) that relates its creation. ‘There are rocky outcrops that form the hills surrounding Kanpi. In the gorge there is a special place called Kanpi rock hole. When it rains the water cascades down like a waterfall. First water fills up the first rock hole and then flows on to the second hole and then the third. I have learned this from my grandfather Jimmy Baker, who took me all around this country when I was a child and taught me the Tjukurpa (Aboriginal Law),’ says 31- year-old artist Teresa Baker.

Jimmy Baker’s work is revered throughout Indigenous art, represented in major collections and has featured in major exhibitions such as the National Gallery of Australia’s inaugural Cultural Warriors exhibition in 2007. A rare collaborative work by Mr Baker and his son Anton is included in the current exhibition. Works by his daughter Kay Baker and those of the other artists represented in the show share a similar dynamism, mastery of colour and strong iconography and have become similarly highly sought after.

Artists range in age from their 70s to early 30s such as Baker’s grand-daughters Teresa Baker and Kani Patricia Tunkin who have been hailed as some of Australia’s most exciting new artistic talents since they first started painting with Tjungu Palya around 2008. Teresa Baker’s extraordinary 2 m x 2m Kalya Tjukurpa (Emu Dreaming) work is one of the many highlights of this stunning exhibition.