Artist

Kunmanara (Peter) Mungkuri: 1946 – 2021 was a highly respected senior Yankunytjatjara man and revered artist of the Indulkana community in South Australia, renowned for his passionate leadership and dedication to cultural and language maintenance across the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. 

Kunmanara Mungkuri shared his immense knowledge of culture, law, history, and Country through his art, passing on an understanding and respect for the environment and stories of his traditional lands. In 2020 Mungkuri was formally recognised for his commitment and service to both the Indulkana community and to Australian Visual Arts generally, with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). 

Kunmanara Mungkuri’s energy and vitality for his community and Country spilled over into his artistic outputs which offer evocative depictions of the landscape, flora and cultural imagery of his Country and the lands he travelled as a stockman. His artistic career has been highly celebrated, and his work has been acquired by cultural institutions and significant collections across Australia and overseas.

In 2017, Kunmanara Mungkuri was named Winner of the Hadley Art Prize, Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania, and in 2018 he was the winner of the General Painting Award at the 35th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. That same year he was a finalist in the prestigious Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

In 2019, Kunmanara  Mungkuri was shortlisted for the 36th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and the Wynne Prize 2019.

In 2017 Kunmanara Mungkuri was awarded the prestigious Hadley’s Art Prize in Hobart, Tasmania and in 2018 he won the General Painting Award at the 35th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, the work being acquired by the institution. For three consecutive years, in 2018, 2019, and 2021 Mungkuri was recognised as a finalist in both the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney and at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. 

In 2021, Kunmanara Mungkuri exhibited in a number of significant exhibitions including Tree Story, curated by Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) in Melbourne; Longing for Home, curated by the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, and in Nganana Ngura Nganampa Ninti - We Know Our Country Well, at Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne.

In December 2021 Kunmanara Mungkuri passed away, leaving an immense artistic and cultural legacy, and an enduring dedication to culture and Country in his community.

© The Artist, Iwantja Arts and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2023

For an extended CV, please contact Alcaston Gallery at art@alcastongallery.com.au