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Tuppy Goodwin | Maku Inma

OLSEN GALLERY

27 May - 20 June 2026

Ngayuku ini Tuppy Goodwin, ngayulu Antara-nya palyani. Maku Tjukurpa titutjarangku munu nganana Maku Tjukurpa palyara tjunanyi Antara-nya alaitu, kutjupa wiya tjukurpa nyata palu pulka, Antara-nya Maku Tjukurpa, inma pulka. Tjukula mankurpa tjata palyani.

Ngayuku tjukurpa nyatatja, ngulu Antara-tja palyaningi, iriti-nguru aitu, ka ngayuku tjukurpa ngaranyi aitu Antara palyantja.

Nganana mukuringanyi, kanyira wangkanytjaku, ngura kunpu kanyintjaku. Anangu tjutangku katipai munu nintilpai pulka mulapa. Nyangatja nganampa culture, tjana panya wangkapai, nganana culture nganampa witira kanyini, kuyani wiya. Palya.

My name is Tuppy Goodwin. I paint the Antara storyline, the Witchetty Grub Tjukurpa. The Witchetty Grub story is the main one, it’s truly huge, it’s a big ceremony. There are three deep rock holes where we go, the main ones. This is my storyline, it’s a very old storyline from a long time ago, and now I am looking after it, the Antara story.

We want to continue looking after our country, after our stories, keeping our home and families strong. We have to continue sharing these stories, always teaching the next generation. There’s so much to be known and we have to hold on to our culture, keep talking about it, it is ours to nurture and care for, so it won’t be spoilt.

Ngayulu kulilpai, mulapa, pampangku, tjilpingku paining, manta nyangatja kunpu kanyinma, manta nyangatja titutjarangku atunymana, ungkuntja wiya, tjukurtjara, pulka ngaranyi. Ngayulu tjitji tjutangka wangkapai; ‘Tjitji tjuta, kulilaya, ngura nyuntimpa –nganampangura, nyangatja tjukurtjara. Antaranya tjukurpa pulka ngaranyi. Ka nyura nyanga palumpa nintiringama, kutjupa-kutjupa kulintja wiya nyangatja nitiringama, kuulaku nintiringama, munu ninti nyina titutjara. Ngayulu nyuranya alpamilara wangkanyi, nyurampa ngura.’ Ngura nyangatja ngayulu mukuringanyi malatja-malatjangku kunpu kanyintjaku, nganampa ngura kunpu wiya ngaranyangka katakatira wiyari-ngku. Tjana panya malatja tjuta mayatjarira nyinanytjaku.

I reﬂect on how the senior women and senior men instructed us on how to care for and protect Country, so that it would remain vital, how we were not to hand it over to others, because it is sacred and powerful. I say to children: ‘Kids, listen, your Country – our

Country, it’s sacred. Antara is the site for a very important songline. You need to learn about this and not become distracted by oither things. Study at school and retain this knowledge. I’m saying all this to help you, because it’s your Country.’ I want our descendant to keep this country strong. If it’s not sustained and protected, then along the way it will be defaced, damaged, and ruines. The children are to become the leaders.

Ngayulu tjukurpa nyangatja walkatjunanyi Mimili Maku Art centengka, artist tjutaku, nganana tjungu palyani, nyanga palula canvas tjuta munu ngayulu tjukurpa nyanga palu wangkanyi. Ngayulu Antara-nya tjara walkatjunanyi, Antara-nya ngura wiru mulapa, tjukurpa pulka tjara.

Today I am a painter at Mimili Maku Art centre, alongside many other artists. I paint the Antara storyline, a story belonging to a very special place that holds many important stories of this country. We speak of this story belonging to the land as we work alongside each other every day.

Kaltja nganampa kunpu mulapa, wati tjilpi tjutaku, minyma tjutaku, tjitji ukara tjutaku, wati yangupala tjutaku panya wati tjilpi munu minyma pampa tjutangku nintilpai alatji alatji palyara, nyanga alatji palyala, nintiringkula paluru, nyara paluru wantikatingkula paluru mala palyantjaku nintiringkula ka tjana ngapartji kungka tjuta alatji wangkanyi, “Nyura paintamilila munu nintiringama, nyura titutjara strong alatjitu kanyinma Ananguku kaltja.”

Our culture is strong with the men, women, and children. The young-fellas are taught by the senior men from a young age. They dance, they listen and learn. The young ladies also listen and learn from their grandmothers, told through our Art Centres. The women tell the young ladies, "Learn to paint and keep our culture alive and keep the culture strong.”

Nganana Tjukurpa nyanga paluru tjananya kanyira, nganana kunpu ngaranyi. Kuwari nganampa art centre pulka mulapa, ngura winkila! Tjana ngalya-tjarpantjaku, welcome Mimili Maku, tjitji tjuta, walkatjunkuntjaku, tjitjingku palyantjaku ka tjana ninti nyinanyi, tjana mungatu pulka mulapa. Nganampa art centre wiru, Ananguku art centre: Nganampa exhibition, nganampa artwork tjuta, nganampa Tjukurpa katu mulapa. Palya.

When we look after our own stories, after our own cultural obligations, we are strong. Today our art centres are truly strong, in all communities. We invite every young person to work at the art centre, learn and make beautiful work. Our art centres are wonderful,

owned by Anangu. We share this exhibition with you, together, to show how strong our culture remains.

For her upcoming exhibition Maku Inma at Olsen Gallery, Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin presents a new body of work that reﬂects a signiﬁcant deepening of her practice.

Centred on Antara, a vast and culturally potent landscape, these paintings map an interconnected ﬁeld of story, memory and ceremony tied to the Maku (witchetty grub) Tjukurpa

The works move from the intimate recollection of Kapi Warku, the rockholes where water gathers on top of granite rocks and where she travelled as a child, to the expansive ceremonial cycles of Maku Inma (Wichetty Grub Ceremony) that she continues to lead regularly.

In this exhibition, Goodwin’s compositions are more open, the brushwork more resolved, stripped back to essential marks that carry both precision and authority. There is a heightened sense of rhythm, where each gesture holds both cultural and experiential weight.

These paintings are not descriptive but embodied: they reﬂect a senior woman painting from within knowledge systems that are lived, performed and continuously renewed. The result is a body of work grounded in continuity, yet unmistakably evolving. Tuppy’s paintings hold personal memory, cultural responsibility and the ongoing life of Antara in dynamic balance.