Australian Aboriginal astronomy has been passed down orally, through ceremonies, and in their artwork of many kinds. The astronomical systems passed down thus show a depth of understanding of the movement of celestial objects which allowed them to use them as a practical means for creating calendars and for navigating across the continent and waters of Australia. There is a diversity of astronomical traditions in Australia, each with its own particular expression of cosmology. However, there appear to be common themes and systems between the groups. Due to the long history of Australian Aboriginal astronomy, the Aboriginal peoples have been described as "world's first astronomers" on several occasions.
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or the Lands, is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the Aṉangu (people) of the Western Desert cultural bloc, in particular Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, inhabit the Lands.
Amata is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Pukatja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Jimmy Donegan is an Aboriginal Australian artist. His painting Papa Tjukurpa munu Pukara won the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2010. He speaks Pitjantjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra. His work is held in several major private galleries in Australia and Europe; the only major public gallery to hold one of his works is the National Gallery of Victoria.
Rene Kulitja, also known as Wanuny Kulitja, is an Aboriginal Australian artist. She works with a range of media, including paint, glass and ceramics. Her most famous design is probably Yananyi Dreaming, which covers a Qantas Boeing 737.
Hector Tjupuru Burton was an Australian Aboriginal artist. He is a leading artist from Amaṯa, in north-western South Australia. His work has been shown in exhibitions since 2003, in several cities in Australia and other countries. His first solo exhibition was held in 2004 in Melbourne. Examples of his paintings are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Flinders University.
Tjungkara Ken is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Amata, South Australia, in the APY lands. She began painting in 1997, when Minymaku Arts was opened by the women of Amaṯa. She started painting professionally in 2008. By that time, the artists' co-operative had been renamed Tjala Arts.
Imiyari "Yilpi" Adamson is an Aboriginal artist from central Australia. She is known for her work in a range of art forms, including painting, sculpture, weaving, knitting and batik.
Sandy Brumby is an Aboriginal Australian artist whose work rapidly became popular following the start of his career late in life.
Tarnanthi is a Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art held in Adelaide, South Australia, annually. Presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in association with the South Australian Government and BHP. It is curated by Nici Cumpston.
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the NPY Women's Council, representing over 400 women from 26 unique communities in the NPY region. Tjanpi is the Pitjantjatjara word for a type of spinifex grass. The weavers harvest and weave local grasses and some other materials to create handmade works and pieces of art. In producing these works, which mostly consist of baskets, jewellery, beads and fibre sculpture, the enterprise encourages women's employment and economic independence.
Maringka Tunkin is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Central Australia.
Barbara Mbitjana Moore is an Anmatyerre woman who grew up in Ti-Tree in the Northern Territory, moving later to Amata in South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. In April 2003, Moore began painting at Amata's Tjala Arts, and, since then, has received widespread recognition. Moore won a National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2012 and has been a finalist in many other years. Moore has also been a finalist for the Wynne Prize.
Pantjiti Unkari McKenzie is a senior Pitjantjatjara woman from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. She has worked as an artist, film maker, actor, teacher, oral historian and recorder of cultural heritage, Ngangkari and as a senior law woman in her community. In 2019, she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her “service to the Indigenous community of the Northern Territory”.
Tjala Arts, formerly known as Minymaku Arts, is an Aboriginal Australian-owned and -managed arts centre located in the remote community of Amata in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the remote north-west of South Australia.
Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken is an Aboriginal Australian Artist. Her painting Seven Sisters won the 2019 Wynne Prize awarded by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The Ken Sisters also known as the Ken Family Collaborative or Ken Sisters Collaborative are a collective of award-winning Pitjantjatjara artists from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of northern South Australia.
Nyurpaya Kaika Burton OAM is an artist and educator from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of Central Australia.
Betty Muffler is an Aboriginal Australian artist and ngangkari (healer). She is a senior artist at Iwantja Arts, in Indulkana in Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, South Australia, known for a series of works on large linen canvases called Ngangkari Ngura .
