Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher

1937-2011 Weipa Western Cape York Peninsula

Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James AO (1937–2011) was a Thaynakwith elder, artist, educator and pioneer of contemporary Indigenous ceramics in Australia. Born at Napranum near Weipa on the western Cape York Peninsula, she was the first Indigenous person to study ceramics at a tertiary level at East Sydney Technical College, where she trained under Peter Rushforth and Shiga Shigeo. Thancoupie forged a singular artistic language that embedded Thaynakwith stories and symbolism in clay and metal, elevating ceramics as a form of cultural expression. Her work has been widely exhibited and is held in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia. She also published a Thaynakwith language dictionary and mentored generations of artists.

Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher

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