15 November 2025–19 April 2026

Ngura Pukulpa — Happy Place Kaylene Whiskey

Celebration radiates throughout artist Kaylene Whiskey’s works, which blend the style of graphic comics together with the traditional Anangu dot iconography of the Central Desert plains. Joy is ever present in the video work Ngura Pukulpa – meaning ‘Happy Place / Country’ in the Yankunytjatjara language — which is being screened in Aotearoa for the first time at Toi Tauranga Art Gallery.

Appearing centre stage, like the main character of a music video, the artist dons a bright pink wig and shimmering garb, surrounded by an entourage of kungka kunpu (strong women) from her community. She dances and sings catchily of her name, her land, her people as her ngura pukulpa — her happy place. In doing so, the artist creates a collage of love for her people and lands bursting with colour.

Ngura Pukulpa — Happy Place Wall Text Audio English
Ngura Pukulpa — Happy Place Wall Text Audio Te Reo Māori

Artist Bios

Kaylene Whiskey

Kaylene Whiskey is a Yankunytjatjara artist who lives in Indulkana on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands. Born in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in 1976, she paints and works with Iwantja Arts – an Aboriginal-owned art centre situated in the Indulkana community.

She is well known for her painting practice that typically features bright coloured portraits in a flat, comic-strip style combined with Anangu lines and dot work, a lively synthesis of pop culture references combined with Indigenous cultural iconography. Her work often features cameos of famous actresses, film and television characters interacting with daily life in Indulkana. She won the 2018 Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW and has exhibited prolifically with some of Australia’s most prominent galleries. 

Related Media

Kaylene Whiskey – 2018 Artist Talk at ACCA

Kaylene Whiskey – 2018 Artist Talk at ACCA

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