Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art

Kaapa was often the first Aboriginal person to introduce himself to newcomers to Papunya. He instantly sought to establish a relationship based on mutual interest and good humor. His candour was too much for many settlement officials who having been schooled in the assimilationist period bristled at his apparent disregard for their assumed authority. Kaapa was branded as a 'troublemaker', a necessary mediator to be sure but certainly not one to be trusted. (John Kean, 2011)

Kaapa was born at the Emu Dreaming site of Yaltjijira on the western edge of Anmatyerr country. He was initiated on Napperby Station where his family moved to escape the violence, which culminated in the Coniston Massacre of 1928. As a young man he worked as a stockman before settling in Haasts Bluff and moving to Papunya in 1957 when it was still under construction.

Prior to the emergence of painting at Papunya, Kaapa had already established himself as an independent artist. To supplement his meagre training allowance paid by the settlement authorities, Kaapa sold his carved wooden artefacts and watercolour paintings to support his family. His formative works illustrate elements of Anmatyerr ceremony in explicit figurative detail, which also became the focus of his works painted in the Men's Painting Room.

In August 1971, Kaapa led the painting of the Honey Ant Mural, which was produced in collaboration with senior custodians – who chose Kaapa for his mastery of the medium – and four other painters. In September 1971 Kaapa jointly won the Caltex Art Award in Alice Springs for his Men's Ceremony for the Kangaroo, Gulgardi. This breakthrough moment would propel the Papunya artists into the limelight through their forging of a radical style and iconography hitherto confined to the ceremonial ground.

Kaapa was instrumental in the establishment of Papunya Tula Artists, serving as the company's inaugural chairman in 1972 and as a board member throughout his painting life. His passing in 1989 coincided with the public acceptance of the movement that his genius had helped to inspire.