Senior Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara artist and traditional healer (ngangkari) Betty Muffler will present her first major institutional solo exhibition at Bundanon, opening 31 October.
Comprising new paintings alongside loaned works, Ngangkari Ngura – Healing Country explores Muffler’s recent practice and the striking black and white paintings for which she has become renowned. Her works depict sacred sites connected to her Tjukurpa (creation stories) and ngangkari (healing) practice, expressing the deep relationship between healing, Country and cultural knowledge.
Muffler grew up at Ernabella Mission following the displacement and deaths of family members in the aftermath of British nuclear testing at Maralinga and Emu Field. Having witnessed the devastation of Country and survived this experience, healing places have become a recurring and deeply personal subject within her work.
“My artworks are about ngangkari, what it feels like and what it means to be ngangkari, so they’re really important to me. They’re all about my feelings and thoughts about my ngangkari work. Ngangkari like me can see spirits and feel a lot of different energy. When I’m painting or drawing I’m feeling the good energy, it’s connecting with my spirit and all of these feelings become part of the artwork.” Betty Muffler, 2024
Showing concurrently is an exhibition of newly commissioned textile-based works by Mehwish Iqbal, whose practice is similarly grounded in cultural knowledge and connection to place.
Ngangkari Ngura – Healing Country
Bundanon
31 October – 14 February, 2027
Image credit: Betty Muffler, photography by Rhett Hammerton
