Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art

For those of us who knew Mick Namarari as an artist, the dramatic events that shaped his youth are hard to reconcile with the warm but reserved person we encountered in his later years. While Namarari came into manhood during a period of violence expressed on both sides of the pastoral frontier, his artistic output is characterised by the celebration of his ancestral home while capturing the dynamism of natural forces associated with its creation. (John Kean, 2011)

Mick Namarari was born at Marnpi, a Kangaroo Dreaming site south-east of Walungurru, where as a small boy he witnessed the killing of his father by a revenge party and the subsequent loss of his father’s mother. After a period of mourning, the family travelled east, reaching Putati, a ration depot established by the Lutheran pastor F. W. Albrecht and Arrernte evangelist Titus. From here Titus led them into Mt Liebig where they were caught up in the scientific experiments of the Adelaide University research party led by Norman Tindale. Later they travelled to Hermannsburg where Namarari attended the mission school before working briefly as a stockman and moving to Haasts Bluff.

Namarari settled in Papunya during the late 1950s and was serving on the Papunya Council when Geoffrey Bardon arrived in 1971. He was one of the most committed and accomplished of the Papunya artists, on small or monumental scale. His Dreamings included Moon, Kangaroo, Dingo, Water, Wild Bandicoot, Wind and Marsupial Mouse. His principal sites were Marnpi, Tjunginpa, Tjangimanta and the Dingo Dreaming site of Nyunmanu.

Namarari stayed at Papunya until the mid 1980s when he moved to Walungurru and worked to establish an outstation at Nyunmanu. In 1991 he won the 8th National Aboriginal Art Award and his first solo exhibition was held at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. During this period, he developed a pared down style, which plays on subtle variations of tonality, texture, straightness of line, or density of dotting, to create a shimmering surface. In 1994 Namarari tied for first place in the Caltex Art Award and was the recipient of the Australia Council’s prestigious Red Ochre Award.