. . . . "1101400180"^^ . . . "Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James AO (1937-2011) was an Australian sculptural artist, educator, linguist and elder of the Thainakuith people in Weipa, in the Western Cape York area of far north Queensland. She was the last fluent speaker of the Thainakuith language and became a pillar of cultural knowledge in her community. She was also known as Thankupi, Thancoupie and Thanakupi."@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "1937"^^ . . . . . "Thancoupie"@en . . . . . . . "Thancoupie"@en . . . . . "Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James AO (1937-2011) was an Australian sculptural artist, educator, linguist and elder of the Thainakuith people in Weipa, in the Western Cape York area of far north Queensland. She was the last fluent speaker of the Thainakuith language and became a pillar of cultural knowledge in her community. She was also known as Thankupi, Thancoupie and Thanakupi. Thancoupie played a dynamic role in First Nations Australian arts, not only in her leadership of ceramics as a form of cultural expression for First Peoples, but was among the first to be recognised as an individual contemporary First Nations artist in Australia. Thancoupie also produced a number of works using metal, including her large-scale cast bronze work Eran (2010) which is displayed at the entrance to the National Gallery of Australian in Canberra. Thancoupie\u2019s works in metal closely resemble her ceramic works: rounded vessels or spheres, into which imagery from Thainakuith culture is carved. Thancoupie\u2019s use of metal in her practice was, like ceramics, among the first uses of the material as a vehicle for cultural expression in a First Nations context. Thancoupie drew directly from her knowledge of Thainakuith culture, as well as ceramic and metal art practices, to produce her body of work. Thancoupie\u2019s works occupy most Australian public collections and remains a pivotal figure in Australian art history."@en . . . "Thanakupie, Thancoupie, Gloria Fletcher, Thankupi, Dr Gloria Fletcher James AO"@en . . "Thancoupie 1981"@en . . . . "16380"^^ . . . "2011"^^ . . . . . . . . . . "Thanakupie, Thancoupie, Gloria Fletcher, Thankupi, Dr Gloria Fletcher James AO"@en . . . . "49693140"^^ . . . . . . . "Thancoupie"@en . . . . . . . "--04-23"^^ . . . . . .