2024 | NGANGAKARI

2024 Ngangkari. artworks by Lilly Ulah

FLINDERS MEDICAL CENTRE - Arts in health

Ku Arts presented a retrospective of works by Mrs Lilly Ulah, a Ngangkari who lived in Coober Pedy, SA. Lilly was well known as a powerful healer, and people seeking treatment often visited her in Coober Pedy.

Ngangkari are the traditional healers of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (NPY) lands in the remote western desert of Central Australia. Ngangkari healers treat spiritual, mental and physical ailments holistically through therapeutic techniques, through skills that have been passed on through generations.

Lilly was born in 1937 and grew up in the tri-border region of SA/NT & WA, between Irrunytju and Pipalyatjara. She married a Yankunytjara man, moved to Indulkana on the eastern side of the APY Lands, and raised her family there. Later in life, Lilly moved to Coober Pedy.

At 80 years of age, Mrs Ulah's talent was discovered, and she became a prolific artist, engaging in Ku Arts painting programs in Coober Pedy. Drawing inspiration from her connection to the land and surrounding country, she often painted the rock holes at Kuru Ala, which were created by the Seven Sisters. These sites were created by ancestral spirits and embody not only her recollections of space but also her sense of connection to them.

Lilly Ulah's artworks are sold on behalf of her family, who receive the proceeds from the sales.

“She painted her country. She came from out West, from Spinifex Country. When she sat down in Coober Pedy, she painted to remember her land, she painted those tjukulas (waterholes), painted her Country.” Johnny Ulah (Mrs Ulah’s son)