It was an hour after I had left the Utopia Art Centre, in remote, central Australia, when our van turned off the bumpy dirt track and into the bush.
We were in the Northern Territory, one of the country’s least-populated areas. Ahead of me, a red sandstone cliff loomed over acacia trees and low-lying spinifex bushes. Local Aboriginal artists, Jennifer and Jedda Kngwarray Purvis, assured me this was the place.
The desert heat was approaching 40 degrees as we clambered up the rock face to a wide, sheltered ridge. On the rust-toned walls, Jennifer pointed out carvings of elongated triangles, representing the pencil yam vines which grow nearby.
“Emily was born here,” she explained, referring to their late great-aunt, Emily Kam Kngwarray, whose extraordinary work is the subject of a major retrospective at London’s Tate Modern. She was from Utopia, also known as Urapuntja or Amengernterneah, an Aboriginal homeland formed in 1978.
Looking down from the rock, the reds, yellows, greens and browns of the landscape were instantly recognisable from Kngwarray’s grand canvases, some of which she created at the Art Centre.
The patterns of the dry earth are also clearly visible in the bold, swirling patterns in both Jennifer and Jedda’s canvases, which were for sale in the airy, white-walled gallery space. The paintings are gorgeous on the eye, but they also explore the sisters’ spiritual connection to their land.
The Art Centre sits among single-storey buildings and agricultural machinery in the tiny, 150-strong Utopia community, and is one of many government-funded centres for Aboriginal art in the Northern Territory. They provide studio space and materials, plus sell the artists’ work, ensuring that they receive fair payment.
I had been fascinated by Aboriginal art since my first visit to Australia, years ago, and had come to see both Utopia and the small desert town of Alice Springs, a similarly creative outpost. I would also be taking in the Northern Territory’s sights, including Uluru and Watarrka (also known as Kings Canyon.)
In Alice Springs, Anna Dakin, a British artist who now runs art tours, drove me past streets lined with bungalows and lilac-hued jacaranda trees, cradled by the imposing MacDonnell mountains. More than a dozen Aboriginal art galleries are spread across the town centre and, oddly, an industrial estate, wedged between tyre workshops and scrap metal dealerships.
“The Aboriginal art industry as we know it was born here in Alice Springs,” explained Venita Poblocki, the owner and director of the This is Aboriginal Art gallery in the pedestrianised, outdoor Todd Mall shopping centre. “Art dealers from all around the world come here to source work.”
In several galleries, in addition to canvases so huge you’d need a mansion to hang them, there were smaller works with prices starting at around £40. At Tangentyere, an Aboriginal-run, not-for-profit gallery and studio space, I couldn’t resist a large square painting by local artist Isobelle Spencer Napaljarri. It features deep aubergine circles set against patches of ochre and vibrant cornflower, and tells the story of women collecting acacia seeds for medicinal use.
From Alice Springs, we headed back on the open road to Uluru, passing camels, wild horses and an emu farm along the way. Nothing had prepared me for seeing the 550-million-year-old rock at sunrise the next day.
After a punishing 4am start, I watched entranced as a sound and light show projected Aboriginal drawings onto the darkened landscape. Slowly, the sky edged from midnight blue to silvery pinks and oranges. Then, suddenly, Uluru began to emerge, part of nature’s theatrical reveal.
Over the next few days, on walks around Uluru and the neighbouring Katatjuta rock, Anna explained local stories connected to them both. Later, I explored the spectacular chasms of the red sandstone gorge at Watarrka National Park which were, if anything, even more extraordinary.
My time in Australia had almost come to an end but before I left, I wanted to see Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory and another centre for Aboriginal art. Less than two hours by plane from Alice Springs, it is geographically closer to Asia than any other Australian city.
The hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus took me from my harbour-front hotel to the superb Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), which is home to the annual Telstra Natsiaa awards – Australia’s most prestigious gongs for Aboriginal art.
The powerful work on show covered everything from abstract canvases to vast installations, many addressing the history of the Aboriginal people. Above all, the art portrayed the unforgettable natural world of the Northern Territory. It wasn’t hard to see the inseparable connection between the two.
As Jennifer Kngwarray Purvis told me: “You need to understand the landscape to understand the art.”
Eddi was a guest of Tourism and Events Northern Territory
How to do it
Qantas has flights from London Heathrow to Alice Springs from £1250 return, including one stop in Sydney. Flight time is around 30 hours in total.
The Tate Modern’s Emily Kam Kngwarry exhibition runs until January 11. General admission is £22; concessions from £5; free entry for members.
Where to stay
Double rooms at Doubletree by Hilton, Alice Springs cost from £82 per night. Centrally located, the hotel has a large pool as well as several good restaurants.
Double rooms at the smart, Adina Darwin Waterfront aparthotel cost from £79. The harbour promenade is on your doorstop and there’s also a pool.
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