National Gallery of Australia

The Illumination

SOFT RAIN, STRONG COUNTRY (Kukawarra kwatja, pmara nhanhanama marra inthurra) by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Grace Kemarre Robinya

For the 2026 Enlighten Festival, the National Gallery will be illuminated with rain stories from desert Country.

Mparntwe/Alice Springs-based artists will bring to life Beautiful Ulkumanu (old woman), an ambitious soft sculpture by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, who awakens from rainclouds painted by Western Arrarnta/Arrernte/Luritja/Anmatyerr artist Grace Kemarre Robinya.

Presented alongside the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain, the projection offers a sense of rich and colourful Country, that has been cleansed by rain to suggest rebirth and new beginnings. Inspired by their families, kinship relationships and the importance of rain to regenerate desert Country, this animation shares a positive and empowering message to continue moving onwards and upwards. 

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The Artists

Grace Kemarre Robinya Western Arrarnta/Arrernte/Luritja/Anmatyerr peoples, born 1942 Lives and works in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Grace Kemarre Robinya paints her family and country in Central Australia with intricate and animated detail.

Born and raised in Ntaria/Hermannsburg, Robinya moved to her husband’s Anmatyerr country near Laramba in the 1950s. Approximately 200 kilometres north-west of Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Laramba is where Robinya raised her family and is a central subject of her practice.

Since 2005, she has been a member of Tangentyere Artists, a not-for-profit organisation that serves as a creative hub for art activities across Mparntwe Town Camps. This important meeting place for artists to tell stories and share life experiences through art has fostered Robinya’s talent and in 2021 she won the Vincent Lingiari Art Award for her painting Raining at Laramba.

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists were established 2000. Based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Northern Territory Yarrenyty Arltere Artists work together to create unique soft sculptures and strong, healthy outcomes for their town camp community located at the base of Mount Gillan in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

Established in 2000 under Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists sought a place for respite and healing in response to the chronic social distress faced by camp residents. For more than two decades, people have gathered daily and are recognised for their wisdom, skills and abilities. Their award-winning art is held in major public and private collections across Australia and internationally.

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