Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM: Nyuyuntja

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM: Nyuyuntja: Stoking of the fire, keeping the fire alive is the sixth book in the annual series of JamFactory ICON monograph publications. The JamFactory ICON series of exhibitions was launched in 2013 to celebrate the many highly acclaimed and influential South Australian artists working in craft-based media.

A prominent Pitjantjatjara Elder, Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM (1937-2025) was one of the most accomplished artists associated with Australia's highly acclaimed and longest running Aboriginal art centre, Ernabella Arts.

Tjunkaya worked across many media, including ceramics, tjanpi weaving, punu (wood), print-making and painting, and was a key figure among the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. In 2018 she received the Gladys Elphick Award for Lifetime Achievement for her commitment to the arts and her community, and in 2020 she was awarded an Order of Australia.

The publication features essays by Anne Thompson, Ernabella Arts Co-Chair, and Adele Sliuzas, alongside Tjunkaya's personal narration of the central story of her work and her being: Kungkarangkalpaku Tjukurpa, the story of the Seven Sisters. Visually rich, the book features stunning photography of Tjunkaya, her work and her Country by Connor Patterson.

This publication honours Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM's extraordinary legacy, sharing her work and her story to keep the fire alive.