Caroline Nuidoo Australian, Yulparitja, C. 1955-2011

Caroline Nuidoo was born c. 1040. In the 1960s, a group of women and men walked out of the country around Well 33 on the canning stock route in search of water. A severe drought had left the country desolate and people were dying, there was little option but to leave their traditional country and head to various white fella missions whose metals and matches had been traded inland along with stories of plentiful food and water. The Yuplarija clan ended up in saltwater country at Bidyadanga, two hours south of Broome, the traditional country of the Karrajarri. When the Karrajarri were given back their country four years ago, they suggeste to the four desert tribes that maybe they would like to return to their country, but they couldn’t. They now all ate fish, and their grandchildren only knew they saltwater ways, so the Karrajarri kindly welcomes them to stay with permission to hunt and use their country as their own. This however triggered a realisation that the traditional stories of Yulparija would be lost to their children and grandchildren, a desire to paint and record these, along with their songs, became a pressing concern. He extraordinary works of the Yulparija artist reflects the contemporary experiences of these people, with desert iconography being portrayed in the rich blues, reds and greens of the coastal landscape that the artist have been living in for the past years. They are truly contemporary art works, although draw completely on traditional experiences. They have since been exhibition regularly around the country and overseas, and have been widely collected by important institutions and collectors, including National Gallery Victoria, Laverty Collection, RACV Collection, Myer Collection, Kerry Stokes Collection, University of Notre Dame, National Gallery of Australia and Art Gallery of Western Australia and many others. Caroline Nuidoo is part of this tribe as an old women with many Yulparija stories and much culture.