nyakul DAWSON
Nyakul Dawson
c1930 - 2007
Out of respect for his family, and in accordance with Aboriginal custom, the artist's image has been removed until further notice.
Nyakul Dawson, a senior Pitjantjatjara law man and Ngangkari (traditional healer), was born around 1930 at Aaran, on the wati ngintaka (goanna man) Dreaming track. He lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle for many years with his family, during which time he was taught about how to survive in the desert, learned about the country and the Dreamings associated with it. He remembered when he first saw whitefellas, riding camels across the desert, and the terrible smell of the fallout from the Maralinga nuclear testing. Nyakul lived with his wife Anmanari Brown in a wiltja ( humpy ) at Irrunytju.
Nyakul Dawson represented Irrunytju Arts at the official opening of the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris in June 2006, attending a reception for the commissioned artists at the Presidential Palace and various media events at the Australian Embassy.
Exhibitions
2006 Tjukurpa Mulapa: True Story - Senior Irrunytju Artists, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Irrunytju Arts: Senior artists from Irrunytju WA, Raft Artspace, Darwin
2005 Ngayuku Ngura: My Country New Paintings by senior artists of the Irrunytju community, Western Australia, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Melbourne Art Fair, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Irrunytju Wati, Aboriginal and Pacific Gallery, Sydney
2003 Watiku Tjukurpa: Irrunytju Senior Men, Aboriginal and Pacific Gallery, Sydney
2003 Irrunytju Art Auction, Viviven Anderson Gallery, Melbourne; Cromwells Auctioneers, Sydney
2002 Wati Tjilpiku Tjukurpa: Irrunytju Senior Men, Aboriginal and Pacific Gallery, Sydney
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne