Anamari Brown (dec)

After being born in Purpurna in the 1930s, Brown grew up in the desert before kartiya (non-Aboriginal people) came to the lands and eventually settled at Warburton Mission in Western Australia, where she attended the mission school at Warburton.

Anmanari was married to Nyakul Dawson (dec.) and had a large family. Anmanari lived with her daughter Angilyiya Mitchell and her family in Papulankutja/Blackstone in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Anmanari frequently painted the Seven Sisters Dreaming story, a popular Dreamtime story in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. She is culturally associated with the Pitjantjatjara people of the Northern Territory and South Australia. 

Like many senior Indigenous artists, Brown works in other art forms in addition to painting, including punu (carving utilitarian and sacred objects), tjanpi basket weaving, and inma. Many important national institutions have collected her work.

Anamari’s work was chosen by Australian Tapestry to be made into a magnificent rug. This fabulous piece has toured Australian Embassies and now resides in a private home in the UK.