Alvira Bird Mpetyane / Women’s Ceremony (AB05)

Alvira Bird Mpetyane is an Anmatyerre artist born in 1984. Her ancestral Country is Ilkawerne, situated in the Utopia region of the Northern Territory, approximately 200 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs.

Alvira is the fifth eldest of eleven children born to artists Eileen Bird and the late Paddy Bird. She grew up at Mulga Bore outstation, also known as Akaye Soakage, surrounded by a large, close-knit family in which painting, cultural knowledge and connection to Country formed an important part of everyday life.

Her grandparents included two highly respected Utopia artists, Ada Bird Petyarre and Lindsay Bird Mpetyane. Ada was a particularly strong influence on Alvira, teaching her to paint and sharing the stories associated with women’s ceremonies as they worked together. From a young age, Alvira also watched and assisted her grandmother and aunties, learning through the traditional processes of observation, participation and the passing of knowledge between generations.

Alvira’s paintings draw upon the cultural stories of her Ilkawerne Country. Her principal subjects include Awelye (Women’s Ceremony) associated with Ahakeye (Bush Plum), Alpar (Rat-tail Plant) and Ntang Artety (Mulga Seed). These ceremonies bring women together to share knowledge and maintain their cultural responsibilities through song, dance, storytelling and ceremonial body painting.

Her intricate compositions combine finely worked dotting with rhythmic lines, concentric forms and repeated ceremonial motifs. The detailed surfaces of her paintings represent bush foods, plants, women, digging sticks, gathering places and the designs traditionally painted onto women’s bodies during ceremony. Through these works, Alvira expresses the enduring relationship between the women of her family, their Country and the cultural knowledge entrusted to them.

Alvira now lives with her husband and children between Alice Springs and Engawala, a small community situated on her traditional Ilkawerne Country. Her paintings have appeared in group exhibitions and are held in private collections throughout Australia and internationally.

Alvira has painted a richly detailed interpretation of Women’s Ceremony, bringing together elements of Country, bush foods, water sources and the cultural knowledge shared among women.

For Anmatyerre women, ceremony is an important way of maintaining connections to Country and passing knowledge from one generation to the next. Women come together at significant places to sing, dance, share stories, prepare food and teach younger women about their cultural responsibilities and the traditions associated with the land.

Throughout the painting, intricate patterns, flowing lines and circular forms create a richly layered landscape. The many plant-like motifs evoke the bush foods, seeds, roots and flowering plants found across the Utopia region, while other forms suggest waterholes, gathering places and the pathways travelled by women as they move across Country.

Rather than depicting a single place or event, the painting brings together many aspects of women’s life on Country. Bush foods and reliable water sources are essential when women travel through the landscape, particularly when gathering together for ceremony, which may continue over several days.

The extraordinary detail within the work reflects the richness of the knowledge held by women and the close relationship between ceremony, family, food, water and Country. Through her painting, Alvira celebrates the continuation of these traditions and the enduring importance of women coming together to share knowledge and care for Country.