Emily Kam Kngwarray

Emily Kam Kngwarray, an Anmatyerr woman from Central Australia, devoted the last decades of her life to new artistic pursuits, creating works that encapsulate the experience and authority she gained throughout an extraordinary life. This book offers new insights into Emily Kam Kngwarray’s life and work, featuring original research and reflections from the artist’s community, curators, and academics.

Generously illustrated, the publication brings together Kngwarray’s most significant works, from early vibrant batiks to her later monumental paintings on canvas. It includes archival images, many of which have never been published, and a visual record of community consultations and visits to Kngwarray’s Country. Emily Kam Kngwarray is published alongside a major retrospective exhibition of her work at the National Gallery of Australia.

Kelli Cole is a Warumungu and Luritja woman from Central Australia and is Curator of Special Projects at the National Gallery of Australia. Hetti Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon curator, writer, advisor, and presenter with thirty years of national and international experience working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts. Jennifer Green is a linguist based in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne and a member of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language (RUIL).