Jennifer Mitchell

Papulankutja (Blackstone), WA

Jennifer was born near Irrunytju community at Kala Tjuti in approximately 1950. She travelled all across the NPY lands with her mother during her childhood, and was near Maralinga during the rocket testing in the fifties. During that time she and her family had to hide in their shelters. Her grandfather got ill from the radioactive smoke and later died and was buried at Oodnadatta, SA.

Jennifer has been making baskets since 1995, and both she and her mother, Mrs Woods, have a reputation for creating extremely well crafted and strong baskets. Jennifer is also an accomplished sculptor and makes delightfully animated dogs and figures out of grass and coloured wools.

Jennifer is one of Tjanpi's chief ambassadors and she features on the Tjanpi brochure and website. She works closely with the Tjanpi office and contributes her expertise to numerous areas of the organisation, including the annual NPYWC Law & Culture camp. She is an erudite public speaker and has represented Tjanpi and presented at regional and national conferences. Jennifer has also been involved in the acclaimed Big Hart stage production Ngapartji Ngapartji as a choir member and consultant on the language reference group. Her work is sold through a diverse range of commercial outlets and has been included in a number of group exhibitions.