Yankunytjatjara Wangka! Keeping Ancestral Voices Alive

Yankunytjatjara Wangka! is the second exhibition in the Keeping Ancestral Voices Alive series from the South Australian Museum and the Mobile Language Team (University of Adelaide).

Launched as part of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, this free exhibition showcases original artwork by Coober Pedy-based Yankunytjatjara artist Myra Kumantjara that illustrates the language of her community.

An increasing number of Australia’s Indigenous languages are undergoing revival and maintenance by dedicated communities of speakers and learners across the country. Just under half of the 47 languages of South Australia are undergoing some form of revival or maintenance. Yankunytjajara is one of the stronger languages. While it is spoken across Australia, its traditional homeland is the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjajtara Lands in north-western South Australia and across the border in the wider region surrounding Uluru.

This language-immersive exhibition puts Yankunytjatjara language at the heart of the content, with all exhibition panels solely presented in Yankunytjatjara with English translations available below. Co-curated by Yankunytjatjara women Myra Kumantjara and Karina Lester, this exhibition asks audiences to leave English at the door and to be immersed in wangka (language), to hear and see the strong Yankunytjatjara language.