Barbara Mbitjana Moore


Barbara Mbitjana Moore is an Anmatyerre woman who grew up in Ti-Tree in the Northern Territory, until she moved to Amata in South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands to live with her husband. Whilst living in Amata Moore began painting at Tjala Arts in April 2003 and, since then, has received widespread recognition and being listed at a winner at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award's in 2012 and a finalist many more times. Moore has also been a finalist for the Wynne Prize.

Art career

Moore began painting at Tjala Arts in 2003, and painted at Tjala Arts on a daily basis.
Moore paints large scale works to depict her country and its landscape. She mainly uses acrylic paints on linen, and screen printing, and is known for her vibrant and expressive use of colours and designs, particularly bright orange, pink, yellow, and green.
Moore titles all of her paintings "Ngayuku Ngura ". In the Pitjantjatjara language, the word Ngura describes both the physical geography of land and country, and the place to which someone belongs. It defines where an individual comes from, their family connections and language. Paintings of Ngura often express the artist's personal stories and memories of Country. Elements within the landscape such as tracks, landmarks, rock holes, underground springs, rock formations and sacred sites are recorded from memory, and often depicted from an aerial perspective.
In 2018, Moore, along with other artists from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, opened a gallery in Darlinghurst, Sydney, with the intention of overcoming unethical practices by art dealers towards Indigenous artists.

Life

Moore was born in Ti-Tree in the Northern Territory. She attended Yirara College, a boarding school in Alice Springs, before returning to Ti-Tree to work as a pre-school teacher. She then moved to Amata, a community in the APY lands of South Australia. In addition to being an artist, Moore is also an Aboriginal Senior Health Worker for Nganampa Health, working in a full-time position at Amata Clinic.

Work

Awards and Nominations

In November 2019, Moore and the artist Sharon Adamson, accompanied by Annie McLoughlin, manager of Tjala Arts, completed a two-week residency at the Kluge-Ruhe museum. The two artists painted a mural, titled "Ngayulu Nguraku Ninti", across two walls in the museum. The mural conveys the connections Moore and Adamson have to their homeland, and features elements typical of Moore's works including the use of thickly applied paint, bright red and radiating circles. The exhibition and residency were sponsored by the Australia Council for the Arts.

Public Collections

Moore has collections in the Art Gallery of South Australia, , Corrigan Collection, the National Gallery of Australia and in the W&V McGeough Collection.

Exhibitions