Over 40 years ago through a union of archetypal designs and modern materials, the senior Indigenous artists of the remote Northern Territory community of Papunya forged a new art form; and ultimately a new art movement that would change the course of Australian art history.
Geoffrey Bardon (1940-2003), a non-indigenous painter, teacher and advocate of Aboriginal art, visited the Government settlement of Papunya in 1971. Here, Barton observed the children drawing traditional designs with their fingers in the sand and encouraged them to represent Aboriginal motifs in his art classes. By introducing acrylic and canvas to the community, Bardon gradually won the confidence of elders who gave permission for their ancestral narratives to be reproduced for a Western audience. Fundamentally, it allowed for the contentious transition from the private context of ceremony to an open marketplace.
David Corby Tjapaltjarri, Ngaliya/Warlpiri (1940-80), Untitled (Bushfire Dreaming associated with Warlugulong), 1972, synthetic polymer paint on Masonite, 45.6 x 32.8cm. Purchaed 1980. Courtesy Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin
In 1972, Colin Jack Hinton, the inaugural Director of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), purchased over 100 significant early examples of these Western Desert masterpieces and throughout the 1970s more acquisitions were made, contributing to what is now regarded as some of Australia’s most significant cultural, historical and artistic items, and the largest collection of Papunya paintings in the world.
‘Tjungunutja: from having come together’ comprises early Papunya paintings created during the seminal period, 1971-72. Presented by MAGNT, the exhibition includes over 130 paintings, rare cultural artefacts, historical ephemera and previously unseen photographs alongside compelling cinematography, offering a remarkable insight into the genesis of the Western Desert art movement.
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, Pintupi/Luritja (c. 1925-2001), Water Dreaming, 1971, synthetic polymer paint on 3-ply wooden board. Gift of the Department of the Northern Territory 1974. Courtesy Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin
In a unique undertaking, and an historic first, several Indigenous artists have assisted Luke Scholes, Curator of Aboriginal Art MAGNT, with the collection, consultation and production of the exhibition. Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, one of the founding Papunya artists, who is also one of the major contributing artists to the exhibition, will co-curate alongside world-renowned Warlpiri artist Michael Nelson Tjakamarra AM, Pintupi artists Bobby West Tjupurrula and Joseph Jurrah Tjapaltjarri and Luritja elder, Sid Anderson. Together they formed the title of the exhibition, ‘Tjungunutja’ which points to the amalgamation of Papunya’s different language groups for ceremony. More precise, the title pays homage to the Tingarri ceremonies performed in Papunya in late 1970 which were attended by a large number of people throughout the Far Western and Central Deserts – the moment which enabled this distinctive intercultural art movement to thrive.
Anatjari Tjampitjinpa, Ngaatjatjarra_Pintupi, (c.1938–1992), Dreaming, 1971, synthetic polymer paint on paper board. Purchased 1972. Courtesy Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin
Papunya paintings are fresh and expressive, use radiant colour and possess a characteristic style illustrating Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives linked to land, history and culture. Concerned with colonisation and the threat of deterioration of their customs, lost to future generations, these men worked quickly when painting depictions of their ceremonial lives, using any materials at hand – often scraps of discarded building materials. The works feature a symbolic language of dots, U shapes, concentric circles, wandering footprints and wildlife tracks. While these images were constant, their meanings were ambiguous. A concentric circle, for example, may indicate a camp, a waterhole or corroboree place. These maps, or traces of passage embody a non-linear conception of the environment and the traditional peoples obligation to it whether mythological, participatory or artistic.
Anatjari Tjakamarra, Ngaatjatjarra/Pintupi (c.1938-1992), Kangaroo Rat Dreaming, 1072. Collection of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin
The exhibition features personal accounts by members of the Western Desert Indigenous community, of the Papunya art movement; including founding Papunya artists Long Jack Philipus Tjakamarra and Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, and relatives of those deceased, expressing their familial, geographic and totemic relations to its forebears. These audio visual recordings animate the conceptual, abstract paintings of artists such as Anatjari Tjakamarra (c.1938-1992), Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula (c.1925-2001), Anatjari Tjampitjinpa (c.1938-1992), Charlie Tjaruru Tjungurrayi (c.1921-1999), Uta Uta Tjangala (1926-1990), David Corby Tjapaltjarri (1940-1980), to name a few.
Tjungunutja recognises the cultural authority of these artists who together preserved an ancient culture, now embedded into a contemporary setting.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT)
1 July, 2017 to 18 February, 2018
Northern Territory
