Emily Kame Kngwarreye is recognised as one of Australia’s most important Aboriginal artists. She began painting late in life when she was in her 70s and earlier she participated in communal art activities.
Throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s, Emily’s art-making comprised the design and production of silk batik which was a communal activity in the Utopia Women's Batik Group, engaging the women of Utopia, north-east of Alice Springs in art and craft work. Batik was introduced to the community in the 1970s by the artist and linguist, Jenny Green who worked with the Anmatyerre and Alyawarre people, recording and noting their language, which remains intact.
Batik is a labour intensive, wax resist and dying process involving the application of hot wax designs on to fabric and separate dye bathing to produce various colours. It is a slow and involved process requiring skill and patience. Batik textiles have been a part of the artistic culture of Australia’s neighbour country Indonesia for many centuries and can be traced back to Asia over hundreds of years when India and Indonesia engaged in textile exchange.
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