Details of Bai Bai Napangarti
About
MEDIUMS
Professional acrylic on canvas and linen
THEMES
Hair belt spinning story
Echidna, crow, kangaroo, dingo, native cat and bush carrot
Waterholes and claypans
Snakes
BIOGRAPHY
Bai Bai is a senior Law woman of Balgo. Her country extends from Mangkayi in the Stansmore Ranges to just south of Yagga Yagga. Bai Bai has travelled extensively for cultural reasons, and in 1989 she danced at the Shinju Matsuri Festival in Perth. She spent her youth and early adult years travelling through her family's land learning traditional law and culture.
She began to paint in 1986 in Balgo, and since then has introduced younger members of her family to painting. She has been involved in several publications including Yarrtji: Six women's stories from the Great Sandy Desert, 1997, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, which was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's History Awards in 1998. Bai Bai is a long serving member of the Kimberley Land Council and a strong practitioner of women's law and culture in Balgo. Bai Bai was married to artist Sunfly Tjampitjin (now deceased).
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 Balgo 2008, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
2008 Mixed Exhibtion, Palya Art, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth
2007 Mixed Exhibtion, Palya Art, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth
2007 New Balgo Prints & Glass, Northern Editions, Darwin, NT
2007 Women With Sticks, Susanne O'Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
2007 Warlayirti Survey, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, sydney, NSW
2007 Warlayirti Survey, They Might Be Giants, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
2006 Recent Works, Raft Art Space, Darwin, NT
2006 Recent Works, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2006 Survey, Gallery Gondwana, Sydney, NSW
2005 Glass from the Sand Country, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2004 Desert Mob, Araluen Cebtre for the Arts, Alice Springs, NT
2004 Recent Works, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2004 Balgo Prints, Northern Editions, Darwin, NT
2004 Balgo 4-04, Warlayirti Artists, Balgo, WA
2003 Eight by Three, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne
2003 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre for Arts, Alice Springs
2003 Purtatjanirri Kamu Warrmala, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2002 Desert Mob, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
2002 Balgo, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth
2002 Balgo Hills Artists 2002, Art Mob, Aboriginal Fine Art, Tasmania
2002 Art from Balgo, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
2002 Big Colour My Country, Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast
2001 Opening Exhibition, Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast
2001 Kutjungka, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2001 Recent Works by Artists from Balgo Hills, Ochre Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria
2001 Balgo Artists Return to Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
2000 The Westside: Images in Ochre and Colour, Coo-ee II Exhibiting Gallery, Yuwayi Art Precinct, World Square, Sydney
2000 Olympic Exhibition, Coo-ee Exhibiting Gallery, Yuwayi Art Precinct, World Square, Sydney
2000 Past, Present and Future, Gallery East, Sydney
2000 Waltja - Family, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2000 Balgo Hills Aboriginal Paintings, Bett Gallery, Hobart
1999 Miliynyin, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
1998 17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1998 Painting Country, Pearlers Row Gallery, Broome
1998 15th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1997 New Paintings by Balgo Women, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Daughters of the Dreaming: Sisters Together Strong, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
1996 Balgo Hills: Art of the Place, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada
1995 On the Trail of the Kingfisher: Aboriginal Art from Balgo Hills, Western Desert, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1995 Two Men Dreaming: New Art from Balgo Hills, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Paddington
1994 Aboriginal Desert Women's Law, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat
1993 Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1991 Yapa Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Baudon Lebon Gallery, Paris, France
1991 Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, High Court, Canberra
1990 Recent Balgo Paintings, Dreamtime Gallery, Perth
1989 Balgo Paintings, Robert Steele Gallery, Adelaide
1989 Balgo Paintings, Dreamtime Gallery, Perth
1989 Recent Paintings from Balgo, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
1988 Art from Balgo Hills, Birukmarri Gallery, Freemantle
1986 Art from the Great Sandy Desert, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
COLLECTIONS
Morven Estate
Helen Read Collection
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Kluge-Ruhe Collection, USA
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Kelton Collection , USA
Laverty Collection
Ken Thompson and Pierre Marecaux Collection
Bibliography
1994 Johnson, V., The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, NSW
1994 Dream Journeys Calendar, image reproduction
1991 Crumlin, R., (ed.), Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, Collins Dove, North Blackburn, Vic
1991 Glowczewski, B., Yapa Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Lebon Gallery, Paris, France
1989 Stanton, J., Painting the Country: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley Region, WA, University of Western Australia Press, Perth
