Tjanpi Desert Weavers

Tjanpi Desert Weavers Social Enterprise for Indigenous women from the NPY central desert region

Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a not-for-profit Indigenous social enterprise of Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council. Out of a need for meaningful and appropriate employment, NPY members created Tjanpi to enable women on the lands to earn a regular income from selling their fibre art. Tjanpi (meaning ‘grass’) supports the production and marketing of baskets, sculptures and

seed jewellery made by over 400 artists from 28 remote communities across three states - WA, NT and SA.

It’s Desert Mob week! 🌞This year’s Desert Mob collection brings together seven abstract, experimental sculptures by seni...
07/09/2026

It’s Desert Mob week! 🌞
This year’s Desert Mob collection brings together seven abstract, experimental sculptures by senior and emerging Tjanpi artists from across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands.

Working with found steel mesh and traditional basket-coiling techniques, the artists have transformed discarded materials into something entirely new. Trips to community metal yards become opportunities to look closely, find potential treasures and imagine what these forgotten pieces might become.

The result is a collection full of vibrant colour, Yarnangu innovation and that distinctive Tjanpi-ness that makes every collection so special. 🌾

The Desert Mob exhibition opens Thursday evening at Araluen Arts Centre, followed by the Art Market on Saturday from 10am–2pm.

Feature artists: Cynthia Burke, Samantha Yilpi Burke, Dianne Ungukalpi Golding, Nancy Nyanyana Jackson, Tamika Jackson, Justine Nowie Mitchell and Erica Ikungka Shorty.

Pictured is Dianne Ungkalpi Golding working on her Desert Mob artwork in Warakurna, taken by Jade Brockley.

Happy Friday from a sunny Pipalyatjara skills development workshop! 🌞Photo by Kate Murphy.
03/09/2026

Happy Friday from a sunny Pipalyatjara skills development workshop! 🌞

Photo by Kate Murphy.

Opening this weekend in Narrm/Melbourne 🎬️Our award winning animation Tangki (Donkeys) will be screening at Bayside Gall...
03/09/2026

Opening this weekend in Narrm/Melbourne 🎬️
Our award winning animation Tangki (Donkeys) will be screening at Bayside Gallery as part of their exhibition 'Still moves: Australian and international animation'.

Tangki tells the story of three Anangu women and how donkeys came to be malpa wiru (valuable) friends and helpers, to families in the desert community of Pukatja (Ernabella) in the APY Lands of northern South Australia.

5 September to 25 October 2026
Bayside Gallery, Brighton
Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm

This post contains the name of Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM (1947–2025), shared with her family's permission and in accordance wi...
31/08/2026

This post contains the name of Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM (1947–2025), shared with her family's permission and in accordance with her wishes, so that her work for art, Aṉangu and culture continues to be remembered.⁠
⁠
Manta Itjanungka Tjanampa Tjinanguṟu (The Land Flourished in Their Footsteps)⁠
⁠
"I had the idea a long time ago to make Seven Sisters baskets and I was thinking that I would decorate them with all these different bush foods that the Seven Sisters ate, because the Seven Sisters had to eat on their travels. They had to get their food, and it was the same food that I grew up on. So, what those ancestral women ate is what we ate growing up. I know all those foods, and I know how to get them and how to gather them and pull-out witchetty grubs and go and collect kampuṟarpa desert raisins, so all those foods are familiar to me.⁠" - Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM⁠
⁠
'Nyuyuntja: Stoking of the Fire, Keeping the Fire Alive' is presented in collaboration with Ernabella Arts. The exhibition pays tribute to Mrs Tapaya's immense contribution to Aṉangu culture and honours her lifelong commitment to carrying stories, knowledge and cultural practice forward for future generations. ⁠
⁠
Until 13 September at JamFactory Tarntanya (Adelaide).⁠
⁠
📷️ - Taken by Saige Prime, courtesy of JamFactory

Two weeks to go until Desert Mob Art Market! 🎉⁠The market brings together paintings, punu, ceramics, weaving, sculpture,...
29/08/2026

Two weeks to go until Desert Mob Art Market! 🎉⁠
The market brings together paintings, punu, ceramics, weaving, sculpture, textiles and merchandise from over 30 Aboriginal-owned art centres across Central Australia.

Tjanpi will be there with a stall filled with loads of lovely new sculptures, baskets, tees, totes, jewellery and more!

Saturday 12 September 2025⁠ from 10am – 2pm⁠
Araluen Arts Centre, Mparntwe/Alice Springs
⁠
Pictured are Tjanpi staff Kayla, Veronica and Shoshanna at Desert Mob 2025. Photo by Desart.

Run, don't walk - weaving kits are now back in stock! 🎉tjanpi.com.au/products/learn-to-weave-kit
27/08/2026

Run, don't walk - weaving kits are now back in stock! 🎉
tjanpi.com.au/products/learn-to-weave-kit

Lots of new sculptures have been added to the website, including this spiky ngiyari (thorny devil) by Katie Wallatina fr...
24/08/2026

Lots of new sculptures have been added to the website, including this spiky ngiyari (thorny devil) by Katie Wallatina from Iwantja. Check them out at tjanpi.com.au/collections/new-arrivals. Palya! ☀️⁠
⁠
Photo by Veronica James.

Coming soon 👀Desert Mob is just around the corner and artists from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands have been busy reating works ...
21/08/2026

Coming soon 👀
Desert Mob is just around the corner and artists from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands have been busy reating works to present in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) this September.

While we're keeping the full reveal under wraps a little longer, expect vibrant colour, Yarnangu innovation and the distinctive 'Tjanpi-ness' that makes each year's collection so special.

Stay tuned!

tjanpi.com.au/blogs/exhibitions/desert-mob-2026

Pictured, Nancy Nyanyana Jackson taken by Jade Brockley.

Sunny days are for dyeing and drying raffia! ☀️Hanks of natural Madagascan raffia are soaked and stirred in a cold, salt...
18/08/2026

Sunny days are for dyeing and drying raffia! ☀️
Hanks of natural Madagascan raffia are soaked and stirred in a cold, salty dye bath before soda ash is then added to fix the colour. The raffia is then rinsed and hung out to dry in the lovely winter sun.

At Tjanpi raffia is used to stitch in desert grasses and wool, holding baskets and sculptures together - strong way!

Find out more about the materials used in Tjanpi artworks here > tjanpi.com.au/pages/fibre-art-materials

Photo by Kate Murphy.

Big Tjanpi news!⁠⁠We’re thrilled to share that Yankunytjatjara artist Tricia Singer has been named a finalist in the Woo...
13/08/2026

Big Tjanpi news!⁠
⁠We’re thrilled to share that Yankunytjatjara artist Tricia Singer has been named a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize for her work 'Peacock'! 🦚⁠
⁠
Tricia's piece tells the delightful tale of a big family road trip and a special tjulpu (bird) spotted along the way.⁠
⁠
“I'm so grateful and excited that my Peacock is being displayed for people to see. In my younger years I was inspired when learning from my mum and now I get to share and enjoy the work that I do. I’m so honoured to be a finalist and I would like to thank Tjanpi Desert Weavers for the workshops they do when visiting the communities so I can explore my sculpture weaving in different ways. Thank you.”⁠
⁠
Read her full artwork statement here > tjanpi.com.au/blogs/exhibitions/woollahra-small-sculpture-art-prize
⁠
The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is held at the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf on Gadigal and Birrabirragal Country in NSW. The winner will be announced in early October. Good luck Tricia! 👏🏾⁠
⁠
Image by Veronica James⁠.

Address

3 Wilkinson Street
Alice Springs, NT
0870

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+61889582377

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