Ada Bird Petyarre (c1930-2009)

Ada Bird Petyarre was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists. Born on the Utopia pastoral lease, located in the Sandover region north-east of Alice Springs, she worked as a domestic on the station as a young woman.

Petyarre’s art practice began in the late 1970s, when the Utopia women were introduced to batik and other dyeing and textile painting techniques. She was one of the founding members of the Utopia Batik Group, whose work became an important industry for the Anmatyerre following the return of Utopia to its traditional owners in 1978. A collection of 88 silk batiks was acquired by the Holmes à Court Collection in 1988 and was the subject of the book Utopia: A Picture Story, published the same year.

Petyarre made her first painting on canvas in 1988 and held the first of her several solo exhibitions at Utopia Art, Sydney, in 1990. Subsequently, her paintings were included in major group shows in Australia and overseas, and acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art Gallery of South Australia.