Kaylene Whiskey

Ananyi – Travelling

Kaylene Whiskey is a Yankunytjatjara artist from Indulkana in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. A member of Iwantja Arts, she is known for her vibrant, celebratory paintings that bring together desert life, pop icons, kungka kunpu (strong women), community and culture. Whiskey is one of the country’s most celebrated contemporary artists, a two-time Archibald finalist and winner of the Sir John Sulman Prize.

Whiskey’s work Ananyi — Travelling invites players to journey from Naarm to Indulkana for “a mini-golf party in the desert.” The piece draws on her childhood memories of catching the Greyhound bus to softball games as the Iwantja Tigers’ captain and travelling to Adelaide to play golf as a young girl.

The hole features kungka kunpu, including Cathy Freeman—whom Whiskey remembers racing across the Olympic track in her iconic lycra suit alongside pop legends Dolly Parton, Cher and Tina Turner.

Her party playlist includes Indigenous icons Coloured Stone, Warumpi Band and the Iwantja Band, fronted by her cousin Jeremy Whiskey.

“When we play this music at Iwantja Arts, it gets everyone smiling and singing along,” she says. The soundscape recalls long road trips, Walkman in hand, tapes queued and spirits high. Though she’d never played mini golf before this project—only glimpsing it on The Simpsons—Whiskey has approached it as she does all things: with playfulness, joy and deep respect for strong women and for her community.

Installation view of ‘Ananyi, – Travelling‘, Kaylene Whiskey (2025). Commissioned by RISING Melbourne. PHOTO: Eugene Hyland.