Kitty Kantilla (Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu) (c. 1928–2003) was the most acclaimed Tiwi artist of her generation. From Yimpinari Country on Melville Island, off the west coast of the top of the Northern Territory, Kantilla spent her childhood with her family living under paperbark shelters and eating traditional foods. For a time she lived on nearby Bathurst Island, but in 1970 she moved to Paru on Melville Island where she joined a group of women who sold their art at Nguiu. During this period she produced mainly carvings, but around 1985 she moved to Milikapiti, a nearby settlement, where she began to produce paintings. In 1989 she was a founding member of the Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association. Kantilla is best known for her ochre paintings on paper, canvas, bark and ironwood, incorporating traditional geometric designs. Her work is represented in most major Australian galleries, and the National Gallery of Victoria mounted a major touring retrospective of her art in 2007–2008.
