Utopia is situated roughly 240 kilometers north east of Alice Springs. The aboriginal name for this country is called Urapuntja. The place was named Utopia by German settlers in the early 1920’s. It is a region covering approximately 5000 sq km of land and is home to roughly 2000 aboriginal people. The two main languages spoken are Alyawarr and Anmatyerre. It was in the late 1980’s that aboriginal people of Utopia started to put acrylic paint on canvas. This followed a successful decade of working with batik, several years after the Papunya art movement began which put Utopia on the map. When painting finally reached Utopia, the batik became a thing of the past.

Developing a style all of their own, as late arrivers on the art scene, the Utopian artist began to embrace a bold, minimalist approach with spectacular colour. The linear structures,  and loose larger brush strokes created an organic and natural approach to the paintings. Each artist began to create their own signature styles as opposed to painting to a formula. This resulted in aboriginal art being recognized around the world. This deeper and broader appreciation by the larger public has made many of the Utopian artist among the most collectable artist in the world today.

The art of Utopia has continued to evolve until this present day. Whilst maintaining cultural integrity this new wave of artist has kept aboriginal art dynamic and well regarded by the art connoisseur.

Some of the artist from this area who put aboriginal art on the map, include the late Emily Kame Kngwarraye, Minnie Pwerle, Kudditji Kngwarraye and Gloria Petyarre.