Alison Milyika Carroll was born in 1958 at the Ernabella Mission, now known as Pukatja Community. Alison Milyika’s late husband, Kunmanara Carroll, was a former community policeman and internationally recognised artist, and together they have five children and five grandchildren.
Alison Milyika is the current Anangu Mayatja (Manager) at Ernabella Arts and has previously been the Chairperson. She is also the Anangu Mayatja of Ananguku Arts (the peak body for South Australian Indigenous artists and art centres) and is on the Board of the Ernabella Anangu School, the Mai Wiru store, the Ernabella Community Council and the Traditional Owner Working Group of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Before she became an artist Alison Milyika was as a health worker for many years. She is also a well known singer and member of the Ernabella Choir. She appeared in the 2011 ABC TV documentaries ‘No Ordinary Mission’ and ‘Nothing Rhymes With Ngapartji.’
Alison Milyika is strong leader and excellent spokesperson and advocate for artists and the APY Lands and she is regularly called on to speak at the opening of exhibitions and at public institutions such as the Art Gallery of South Australia.
As well as being a public leader, Alison Milyika is a respected artist working across multiple mediums and her artwork reflects her identity as a contemporary and senior Pitjantjatara Yankunytjatjara woman. Her batik and ceramics are held in public collections, nationally and internationally. In 2011 she was awarded an Australia Council grant to undertake a residency within the Ceramics Department at ANU. The resulting work was exhibited in Canberra and collected by the National Museum of Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia.
In 2014 she was selected as a finalist in the Indigenous Ceramic Art Awards, and her work was acquired by Shepparton Art Museum. In 2014 she undertook a further ceramic residency at ANU and travelled to Singapore to attend a residency at Jalan Bahar Clay Studios.
In 2016 Alison Milyika was the lead artist on an Ernabella collaborative ceramics installation depicting Seven Sisters (Kungkarangkalpa Tjukurpa). The work was acquired by the National Museum of Australia and exhibited in Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, which is touring internationally for ten years. Alison attended the Paris opening of the exhibition in 2023.
In 2018 Alison Milyika’s lifetime of dedication to the Anangu people and her own artistic achievements were recognised and she was presented with the Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement (Ruby Awards), South Australia.
In 2020 Alison Milyika was awarded the Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Australia Council.
Alison Milyika’s work continues to be exhibited in Australia and around the world.
