Tjukurrtjanu gives prominence to 200 of the first paintings produced at Papunya between 1971 and 1972 and also establishes the vital connection between the works of art and their sources in ephemeral designs made for use in ceremony.
The powerful iconographic language and philosophy of these paintings is tjukurrtjanu (from the Dreaming): it communicates the artists’ intimate connection with men’s ritual, hallowed sites in their country and the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming).
Anmatyerr/Warlpiri c.1925-89
Men’s Ceremony for the Kangaroo, Gulgardi 1971
watercolour on plywood
61.0 x 137.0 cm
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
Winner of the Caltex Art Award, 1971. Acquired by the Central Australian Art Society from the 1971 Caltex Art Award. Donated to the people of Alice Springs through the Alice Springs Town Council
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi/Luritja born c.1932
Bush tucker story 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
72.0 x 77.0 cm
Hugo Le Roux Guthrie, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Kukatja/Ngalia c.1905-96
Bush tucker story 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
72.0 x 77.0 cm
Hugo Le Roux Guthrie, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara c.1909-87
One old man’s Dreaming 1971
earth pigments and synthetic polymer paint on composition board
63.0 x 44.4 cm
Beverly and Anthony Knight, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Anmatyerr/Warlpiri c.1925-89
Corroboree and body decoration 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
35.4 x 22.0 cm
Beverly and Anthony Knight, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi c.1926-98
Family bush tucker Dreaming c.1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
50.0 x 50.9 cm
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi c.1940-2000
Possum Dreaming for children 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
60.0 x 50.0 cm
Private collection
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Namarari depicts the Bandicoot Dreaming at the site of Marakutju, a hill north of the Walungurru community. Here the ancestral bandicoot made a shelter by scraping at the ground, pulling all the spinifex grass into a nest with his claws and forming a type of roof with the grass. He then stretched out on his back with his limbs splayed. The work is emblematic of place and also embodies the movements of the bandicoot in constructing the shelter. It is identical in scale and subject to the artist’s major prize-winning entry in the 1991 National Aboriginal Art Award. The work reveals Namarari’s use of increasingly reduced visual motifs, which enable him to reach a conceptual distillation of elements that intersect when he thinks of particular places in his country.
Pintupi c.1926-98
Bandicoot Dreaming in the Marakutju area 1994
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
182.0 x 153.0 cm
Gabrielle Pizzi Collection, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi c.1926-90
Women’s Dreaming 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
45.0 x 37.0 cm
Stephen Bush, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Pintupi c.1937-2002
Man’s Dreaming c.1971
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
50.5 x 50.0 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Anmatyerr born c.1927
Untitled 1971-72
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
117.0 x 33.5 cm
Australian Museum, Sydney
Purchased, 1983 (E079146)
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists
Pintupi c.1915-90
Emu Dreaming 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
46.0 x 46.0 cm
Australian Museum, Sydney
Purchased, 1983
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
More info
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