Pmarra Nurna-kanha Ntarntarai - Care for our Country

The artists from Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) Art Centre regularly experiment with materials, forms, and methods of making to depict the beauty of their Country, in the painting style made famous by Albert Namatjira of whom they are direct descendants.

For rīvus, the group have repurposed discarded road signs, found everywhere in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), as a means of sharing a political message. Whether used to direct traffic or to communicate specific rules, signs like these are crucial in governing our relationship to the land. In bright and arresting colours, they convey laws and regulations across the continent. Usually signs like these would direct people’s attention to common conventions around road traffic, private property, and the organisation of space. In the hands of the Iltja Ntjarra artists, their function is subverted to communicate important information relating to Country, its beauty, cultural practices, and customary lore on Traditional Lands. Each sign has been painted with images of Country in the Hermannsburg style. Alongside these beautiful images are messages that urge us to look after the land, telling us that it is not something to be owned or taken advantage of for profit.