Our Country

Betty Chimney & Raylene Walatinna are a mother and daughter artist duo based in the Iwantja Arts Indulkana Community in South Australia. They have exhibited together since 2016, showcasing strong collaborative paintings which are about their home country, their rich family history and more broadly important Tjukurpa (cultural history) for the Yankunytjatjara people.

Iwantja is the name of a creek where the Indulkana Community was established. The creek runs from high up in the rocky ridge all the way down to the community. There’s tjukitji (soakage), different tjukula (rock-holes) and a very special site: a specific tree that holds the Tjurki (native owl) Tjukurpa. Chimney and Walatinna’s paintings include many of these sites, and their vibrant colour choices and shimmering marks making reflect how the landscape changes from the rocky ridge to the sandy creek beds in this ancient land.

‘Sharing the process of painting with my daughter Raylene is really special. As we work I share stories with her about what it was like here when I was growing up, how it has changed over the years. When I was younger, the older ladies here taught me all about the important cultural stories and I love sharing these with my daughter through our paintings… We love making these beautiful big paintings together, we’re showing the next generations how special this place is.” Betty Chimney speaks about her close relationship with her daughter and collaborator Raylene Walatinna.

“Our collaborative paintings are about the country around Indulkana Community on the APY Lands in north-west SA. This is our home, there is a lot of important family history here for us, and this country holds a lot of important Tjukurpa (cultural history) for us Yankunytjatjara people too.’