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Essential to the experience at Longitude 131° is connecting with the creative spirit of the land’s traditional custodians.

Since joining Baillie Lodges in 2013, key to the new design direction at the lodge has been the introduction of local Aboriginal heritage, led by Hayley Baillie who has worked closely with nearby Anangu communities to commission artworks for display at Longitude 131°. Included are dot paintings from Mutitjulu and Ernabella, Tjanpi Desert Weavers’ baskets, Ernabella ceramics and wood carvings or punu.

A particularly rewarding relationship has formed with the Ernabella community of aboriginal artists in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) in remote South Australia. Established in 1948 from its origins as a mission craft room, Ernabella Arts is the oldest, continuously running aboriginal arts centre in Australia and has evolved to become a thriving art community that has ensured the preservation of aboriginal art heritage and culture. 

Today, the community supports artists by making beneficial commercial connections and seeking opportunities for its artists to make certain the life and business of aboriginal art is sustained. For instance, two ceramic artists, Tjimpuna Williams and Derek Jungarrayi Thompson, travelled to the birthplace of porcelain, Jingdezhen in China earlier this year to create large scale pots during a ceramic residency. The project was designed to bring together the two ancient cultures to create contemporary artworks.

Recently Longitude 131° took delivery of nine of the pots Tjimpuna and Derek had created in China, including one ‘tall pot’ specially commissioned for the lodge and reaching some 1.8 metres in height – large enough to fit a standing person! The pot’s colourful design was created by Tjimpuna who will soon travel to Longitude 131° to see the finished product for the first time in the Dune House. Tjimpuna says ‘I put down the story from my grandfather’s country – Piltati, liru kutjara munu minima kutjara, the story of two water snakes and two women’.

Now, a new bespoke experience visiting the remote studio of Ernabella Arts opens up another avenue for artists to teach their heritage and share their artworks, as the normally closed community has agreed to offer personalised visits exclusively to Longitude 131° guests in a full day tour offering a private experience that promises to be rich, colourful and unforgettable.

To learn more, visit the Baillie Lodges blog. To book a stay, click visit the Longitude 131° website.