Exhibition Insight...Anne Thompson: Ngayuku ngura Ankunytja - My Places to Be
Ngayuku ngura Ankunytja - My Places to Be
Anne Thompson’s work reflects a deep connection to the past and present, shaped by growing up at Black Hill #2, her family’s homeland. Drawing on bush life, nature, and her surrounding environment, her work evokes the quiet of home, inviting reflection on how we care for the present while honouring the past and the cultural knowledge passed down through generations. A leading ceramic artist and advocate for the APY community, Anne’s practice is grounded in culture, community, and the belief that living well together comes from listening, respect, and remembering our ancestors.
“My work really understands about life taking place in time of the past and present. I don’t see what the future brings because you can’t see it yet. It’s peace, body, mind and soul and we all have to think about what’s right and wrong. I love peace. Peace is quiet, it allows you to believe in yourself and to follow up the things you want in your life. Places of noise are the city and traffic. At home, bush life, nature and the environment are all around me and my home is peaceful. I hope we can all get along well for our future and that we look after what’s happening now and think about the good memories that happened in the past and use it to follow up by living the way our ancestors did.”
Anne Thompson, Photo: Connor Patterson
STRONG FAMILY CONNECTION
This is a story of how life was before. It’s a beautiful landscape without problems like we have today. There were no problems then, people were happy. They were connected as families. It shows what life was like for our people in the past before we had houses. Everything was silent, and all the animals were close by to the people. Everyone looked after the animals and the environment. People don’t have that life anymore.
Anne Thompson, Strong Family Connection, Photo: Connor Patterson
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Anne Thompson, Strong Family Connection, Photo: Connor Patterson
Shop online
Anne Thompson, Strong Family Connection, Photo: Connor Patterson
Shop online
HEALTHY CHOICE
This is a story about Country and open lands where there are wide spaces and it’s easy for Aṉangu to see food – there’s a place for tjala (honey ants), maku (witchetty grub), you can see lizards and rabbits and hunt them easily. This was a healthy life, no one was dying from sickness. Now people are getting sick and dying from being given flour, sugar and cigarettes.
My grandmother told a story of when white man first came to Pukatja and tried to give the children lollies and sweets. The old people told them not to eat it, said it was poison, and they made them bury it in the ground. Those old people were right, it was poison - it was sugar.
This is a story about making a healthy choice and going back out bush and not eating bad food from the shop.
Anne Thompson, Healthy Choice, Photo: Connor Patterson
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