Founded in 1985, Warlukurlangu is one of the longest-running Aboriginal-owned art cooperatives in Australia. Some 800 artists work here, producing 11,000 pieces in 2022 alone.

Today, manager Cecilia Alfonso oversees day-to-day operations, as she has for more than two decades. Early in her tenure, Alfonso and assistant manager Gloria Morales noticed tourists blitzed past Yuendumu, unaware they could enter without a permit. To change that, they hung “visitors welcome” signs on the road.

“It reflected our ethos,” she explained. “Many people told us, ‘This is the first welcoming sign we’ve come across [on the Tanami]’.”

Since then, Warlukurlangu has become one of the Tanami’s top tourist sites.

Inside, we found a warehouse filled with colourful, Pointillist-like paintings representing Dreaming stories, the Aboriginal legends that explain the origins of the world and pass on knowledge, cultural values and traditions to future generations. After an hour perusing shelves teeming with remarkable paintings, I settled on a red-hued piece bisected with curving dotted lines by artist Christine Nangala Brown. On my way out the door, I noticed nods of approval from a group of women dabbing paint onto canvases.