Frank Young : Kuḻaṯa Wanampi Tjukuṟpa – Spear Watersnake Story

CASSANDRA BIRD is pleased to present The Kuḻaṯa Wanampi Tjukuṟpa – Spear Watersnake Story, a solo exhibition by senior Pitjantjatjara artist and lawman Frank Young in our Sydney gallery. Bringing together six dynamic paintings with an installation of kuḻaṯa (spears), the exhibition traces a powerful continuum between Country, ancestral knowledge, memory and cultural transmission. Across fields of vivid red, Young depicts kuḻaṯa and the trees from which they are made, interweaving Pitjantjatjara text that records the knowledge and processes of spearmaking: selecting and cutting punu (wood), working and straightening it over fire and stone, and binding the spear with kiti (bush resin) and malu pulyku (kangaroo sinew). Names also appear throughout the paintings, acknowledging senior men, family and community members connected to the making of

kuḻaṯa and the development of the Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa Project, including many who have since passed away. Through their presence, the paintings become acts of remembrance as much as repositories of knowledge, honouring the people who have carried these practices across generations.

Young is a senior cultural leader whose life and practice are grounded in Country and the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. He was among the senior men who established the Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa (Many Spears) Project at Tjala Arts in Amata in 2010, an ongoing cultural maintenance initiative through which Elders share the skills and knowledge of kuḻaṯa making with younger generations. In The Kuḻaṯa Wanampi Tjukuṟpa – Spear Watersnake Story, Young extends this legacy through painting and installation, bringing the physical presence of the spears into dialogue with their painted forms and with the Wanampi and kuḻaṯa Tjukuṟpa that have travelled across Country for generations. More than objects, the kuḻaṯa emerge as carriers of story, memory and living knowledge, connecting Country, ancestors and community while ensuring these practices continue into the future.

Young is a founding member and senior leader of the Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa (Many Spears) Project, established at Tjala Arts in Amata in 2010, and has contributed to every major iteration of the project, including Dark Heart: 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia; TARNANTHI: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2015 and 2017; Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa: Kupi Kupi at Fondation Opale, Switzerland, in 2019, marking the project’s first international presentation; Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa: Tirkilpa at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, in 2025; and Rememory, the 25th Biennale of Sydney, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2026, where the monumental installation Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa: Rurrkuni was presented alongside Young’s paintings Kuḻaṯa Tjukurpa I–III. In 2017, Young, together with his grandson Anwar Young and niece Unrupa Rhonda Dick, was awarded the overall Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) for the collaborative work Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa – Wati Kulunypa Tjukurpa (Many Spears – Youngfella Story). Young held his debut solo exhibition at APY Gallery, Sydney, in 2024, and his work has been recognised through numerous major Australian art prizes and exhibitions, including the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (finalist, 2023), Desert Mob at Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs (2023), TARNANTHI: Milpatjunanyi at the Art Gallery of South Australia (2023), Hadley’s Art Prize (finalist, 2024), the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (finalist, 2024), and the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (finalist, 2024). In 2025, Young was a finalist in the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, where he received the Preparator’s Residency Award and a four-week artist residency at Hazelhurst Arts Centre.