Nyapari Craft Room

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Tjampawa Stevens is the co-ordinator, and set up the craftroom in Nyapari.

The original craftroom was in a small room in the old store, and then it moved in to the new building, which is a 6m x 9m purpose built building with a verandah along its North & East walls.

All the women in the community come to the craft centre to work. As the co-ordinator, Tjampawa's job is to give out the paint and the other artist's materials to the ladies and the artists all buy their materials separately. All craftrooms across the lands work this way.

There are many different kinds of artworks produced here ranging from paintings, screenprints, tie die t-shirts and batik to traditional woodwork, floor rugs and tjanpi (spinifex) baskets.

Linda Stevens makes earings and keyrings out of the distinctive red ininti seeds.

Tjampawa makes baskets from tjanpi and raffia and they are sold in Alice Springs through women's council. Some of the canvasses get sold at Angatja to the tourists. Also sold there are punu, canvas, baskets, necklaces, and jewellery, keyrings, earrings, wira tjuta, and snakes (carved wooden) small and large. Sometimes Maraku (the Anangu woodwork buying co-operative) buys punu and sells it at the shop and Uluru (Ayers Rock).

Supplies of raffia and ininti come from NPY Women's Council.

One distinctive form of work being produced here at Nyapari are woollen floor rugs from the women's own designs, minyma tjutaku designs (designs belonging to women).

First you make a design with crayon and then use a tool to attach strands of wool and make the colour (the design).

The craftroom tries lots of different ideas all the time, including painting seashells and making beautiful silk batik paintings on t-shirts. The craftroom is supported by NPY Women's Council and all the women in the community.

The artists in Nyapari are all a part of the wider Anangu art collective on the lands, Ananguku Arts.