Anna Pitjara

Anna Pitjara, born 1965, is an Anmatyerre woman from Utopia, north east of Alice Springs. Anna is also known as Anna Price Petyarre, Anna Price, and Anna Price Pitjara. She is the daughter of the late Glory Ngale, and the niece of the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Anna began painting independantly in the early 1980s. Her works initially consisted of Yam Seed Dreaming in a colourful and intricate expression of the songs and stories associated with her plant totem, the Bush Yam, and its seeds, of which are from her father and grandfathers country. The Bush Yam has been a staple food and water source for the Anmatyerre people for countless years, and the seeds that form and scatter from the plant are ground up to make flour for damper. During ceremony, it’s Anna's duty to pay homage to the yam seeds and give thanks for their abundance and regenerative qualities. By painting to the tempo of a ceremonial song, Anna expresses her connection to her plant totem in a permanent medium.
As a traditional Anmatyerre woman, Anna has the authority to depict Awelye, which are sacred women’s ceremonies that are carried out. It’s though her heritage, experiences, and engagement in her cultural practices that she is able to represent these stories in her artworks.
A versatile and creative artist, Anna has changed her painting style radically several times over the last decade and now concentrates on extremely finely dotted works which represent her country and its ceremonial sites at Boundary Bore.

COLLECTIONS
Artbank, Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
PowerHouse Museum, Sydney
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
The Kerry Stokes Collection
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Anthropology Art Museum, Perth
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Victorian Art Centre, Melbourne
Mbantua Permanent Collection, Alice Springs

EXHIBITIONS

2005, “Yam Dreaming - Atnwelarre”, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs.
2005, “Small Wonders”, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs.
2004, Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition (Portland, Nashville, Hartford, Greenwish, New York and Philadelphia), USA.
2003, Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition (Knoxville, Nashville, Portland), USA.
2003, “Heart and Soul”, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs.
2002, Galerie Le Temps du Reve, France.
2002, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney.
2002, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne.
2002, “Generations”, Japingka Gallery, Perth.
2002, Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition (Knoxville, Nashville, Portland), USA.
2001, Japingka Gallery, Perth.
2001, Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery, Darwin.
2001, “Painting Country”, Tandanya, Adelaide.
2000, DACOU (in association with AMP), Mary Place Gallery, Sydney.
2000, “Artist of Utopia”, Tandanya, Adelaide.
2000, “Women’s Business”, Australian Exhibition Centre, Chicago, USA
1999, DACOU Gallery, Adelaide.
1999, BMG Art, Adelaide.
1999, “Caring for Country – Artists of Utopia”, Tandanya, Adelaide.
1998, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney.
1997, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
1997, DACOU Gallery, Adelaide.
1996, “Utopia Dreaming”, Soho Gallery, Sydney.

AWARDS
1998, Selected Entrant for the 15th annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.