Cultural warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that the following contains the names of deceased persons.

Coolamon is a ceramic work by Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka, a Luritja/Western Arrernte artist, in the Parliament House Art Collections.

‘I started working here… Yes, I start here in the pottery studio… Yes, that’s all, only a story, short.’ – Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka, interview for the Hermannsburg Potters, Desart, 2020.

Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka
Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka (Luritja, Western Arrernte people) made terracotta ceramics, two- and three dimensional paintings, prints, sculpted animals, and masks. In this work, Ungwanaka has used the sgraffito technique, where the artist has carved into a layer of dried glaze. Ungwanaka is best known as a member of the Hermannsburg Potters, a group of artists from Western Arrernte who make richly illustrated hand-coiled terracotta ceramics. Ungwanaka’s husband, Arrernte Pastor Nahasson Ungwanaka, contributed to founding the Hermannsburg Potters. Ceramics by the Hermannsburg Potters are now held in major public collections nationally.