This Rollershutter Art piece has been proudly sponsored by Activate Alice.
About the Art
Dora and her famed sister, Betty Mbitjana, have also taken to painting Minnie’s signature style of Awelye, women's ceremony and women’s body paint designs. These are intricate patterns rooted in the ancient creation stories (Dreamings), traditionally made by mixing coloured ochre pigments and animal fats.
This mural translates traditional Awelye (women’s ceremonial body paint designs) into a contemporary public art context, maintaining the visual language of pattern, repetition and movement.
About the Inspiration
Awelye designs are deeply connected to ceremony, country and women’s cultural knowledge. By placing this imagery in the CBD, the work reinforces the presence and continuity of Arrernte cultural expression within the town centre.
About the Artist
Dora Mbitjana grew up in Utopia, an Indigenous homelands region some 230km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Dora comes from a family group and community that have produced some of the most influential Aboriginal artists of our time. Dora is the youngest daughter of the great Aboriginal artist, Minnie Pwerle, whose paintings are now held in museums and exhibited in galleries worldwide. Dora’s mother Minnie, along with other artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Gloria Petyarre, were trailblazers that aesthetically contemporised our understanding of Aboriginal art, while drawing deeply on their ancient cultural practices.
Dora is an emerging artist, and is also known to paint the Bush Plum Dreaming style that Utopian artists are well-known for. Dora has four children, two daughters and two sons.
Website
📷Image / Photo Source: ASTC Photo Archives
📍64 Todd St (roller shutters)