Betty Mbitjana

DOB: 1957
BORN: Central Desert
LANGUAGE GROUP: Anmatyerre, Alyawarr
COMMUNITY: Utopia

Betty Mbitjana

Betty’s work was influenced by her mother’s artwork, a renowned Aboriginal artist named Minnie Pwerle who passed away in 2006. Betty’s impression of her mother’s paintings was more structured and refined.  Betty Mpetyane learned the ceremonies and songs growing up in the Utopia homelands with her extended family and kinship group. Her family are well established in the Aboriginal art field, including her sister Barbara Weir (deceased) and aunt Emily Pwerle.

The designs depicted women’s body paint designs, land formations, and sacred sites in her mother’s country, Atnwengerrp, in the remote reaches of Utopia in Central Australia.

In 2021, Betty Mbitjana took up full-time residence at an aged care/respite clinic in Alice Springs due to health issues and later passed away in 2023