Roma Butler

Roma Nyutjangka Butler belongs to the Pitjantjatjara language and cultural group. She was born circa 1955 at Wilu rockhole and the kanyala tjukurpa (euro kangaroo dreaming) track. Roma spent her early years at Ernabella mission in South Australia and then travelled by camel to Warburton in West Australia, where she went to school and learnt to read and write. At the age of 12, she moved to Irrunytju, her grandfather’s brother’s country.

Roma works at Irrunytju Arts as an artist and with Ngaanyatjarra Media presenting a daily radio program of local music and news with her husband Simon Butler. She continues to practice traditional cultural activities including hunting and gathering bush foods, singing and dancing inma.

Roma was encouraged to paint by the minyma pampa (old women) who taught her the many sub-plots and interconnected stories of the tjukurpa, especially senior Pitjantjatjara artist Kuntjil Cooper. Tjukurpa explains creation and existence, revealing how one should live, and is relevant for the past and the present.