Bundanon has officially announced its Summer 2026-27 exhibition season, which brings together two major presentations by senior Aṉangu artist and ngangkari (traditional healer) Betty Muffler and Pakistani-born Australian artist Mehwish Iqbal, whose practices are grounded in cultural knowledge, collaboration, and connection to place.
Presented in the Art Museum from October 31 to February 14, this season marks Muffler's first major institutional solo exhibition, presented alongside an ambitious, multidisciplinary exhibition showcasing newly commissioned textile works by Iqbal.
Developed through longstanding relationships with community and artisan collaborators, these exhibitions reveal enduring ties between culture, identity, Country and community. Together, they offer a compelling reflection on the stories and traditions that continue to shape Australia today.
"Bundanon is delighted to announce our Summer 2026-27 exhibition season, featuring two landmark solo exhibitions by leading artists Betty Muffler and Mehwish Iqbal," said Bundanon chief executive Rachel Kent.
"Working across vastly different mediums and traditions, Muffler and Iqbal each consider how art can foster restoration, resilience and collective understanding.
"Grounded in Betty Muffler's Aṉangu knowledge and traditional healing practices, and in Mehwish Iqbal's exploration of migration, textile traditions and cross-cultural collaboration, they invite audiences to reflect on the ways that care and community can shape personal and collective transformation."
Kent said she has "followed both artists' work for many years, we are deeply honoured to present their remarkable exhibitions at Bundanon".
"At a time of significant global upheaval, this season offers a quiet space for healing through storytelling, prioritising connection and our shared humanity," she said.
Betty Muffler, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), 2025, acrylic on linen. (Image: Supplied/Courtesy of the artist and Iwantja Arts © Betty Muffler.)
Muffler was born in 1944 at Yalungu in the remote north-west of South Australia and is based at Indulkana in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia.
She grew up at various locations on the APY Lands, including the Ernabella Mission in Pukatja following the displacement her family members in the wake of British atomic testing at Maralinga and Emu Plains.
This enduring legacy informs her cultural and creative practice, with her paintings and works on paper depicting sacred sites associated with Tjukurpa (Ancestral creation stories) and ngangkari (healing), under the shared title Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country).
Passed down to her through her father's family and paternal aunties, Muffler's healing powers have supported community health and resilience over decades, and she has worked extensively as a senior member of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council 'Ngangkari Program'.
Maringka Burton and Betty Muffler, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), 2022, synthetic polymer paint on linen. The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Commissioned, 2022 © Maringka Burton and Betty Muffler. (Image: supplied)
Bringing together a suite of new paintings created especially for Bundanon alongside major loans, Ngangkari Ngura - Healing Country traces Muffler's recent practice with a focus on the powerful monochromatic works for which she has become widely recognised, from 2020 to the present.
Working with acrylic paint and oil stick on linen, her paintings are informed by Country, healing and lived experience.
Wavy lines of water connect to radiating, circular waterholes and emu tracks in the works, conveying the detail and immensity of her Country with its striking rock hills and wandering emus.
Through her art, Muffler preserves memory, honours ancestral knowledge and asserts her enduring connection to the land.
"Through my paintings you can see my Ngangkari work: watching over people and also looking after Country. My Country," said
"This place is very important—we all need to look after each other and respect our home."
The exhibition includes significant loans from public and private collections across Australia, including the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of South Australia and Ian Potter Museum of Art, alongside works from Iwantja Arts Centre.
Exhibition highlights include large-scale collaborative works by Muffler and family member Maringka Burton, a respected senior artist and ngangkari like Muffler; as well as a major community work, Ngura Nganampa Wintjiri Wiru Ngaranyi - Our Beautiful Country (2025), by senior Aṉangu women Maringka Burton, Betty Chimney, Kunmanara (Nellie Ngampa) Coulthard, Emily Cullinan and Betty Muffler. Muffler and Burton's distinctive collaborations - some measuring over five metres in scale - are characterised by their soft lilac and cream hues, a counterpoint to the black and white palette for which Muffler is well known.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a new documentary film produced by Iwantja Arts in collaboration with Bundanon, offering insight into the cultural knowledge and healing practices that continue to shape Muffler's creative practice.
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