Tjawina Porter Biography

Date of Birth c.1940Ngaatjatjarra Language Group Tjawina Porter’s birthplace is Wiirulywiirulyu, south west of Tjukurla and to the north of Docker River in Western Australia. Tjawina also has a totemic birthplace, Wapurta. According to local Indigenous Australian creational stories a herd of dogs converged in Wapurta to attack and eat a sacred Kangaroo during the Dreamtime. This story is sacred to the Ngaatjatjarra/Ngaanyatjarra peoples and other tribes which are connected to it by Songlines. Tjawina is a community elder and senior artist from Australia’s Western Desert region, an area known for many great Indigenous artists.. Tjawina is highly respected for her knowledge of important women’s ceremonies and is known for her skill as a traditional basket weaver as well as her prominence as a painter. Tjawina has been a lifelong companion to her sisters Esther Giles and Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa, the latter being one of the most important artists in the movement. This centre at Haasts Bluff for the Kintore Women heavily influenced their artistic practice and can still be witnessed in their work today. Tjawina paints her mother’s and her father’s Dreaming, the sites of Yumari, Pangkupirri, Tjukurla and Tjarlirli. These sites are regarded as sacred because of their ceremonial uses and as sources for water and important bush foods.