Affection: Papunya Tula Women’s Art

The Museum of Art and Culture yapang on Awabakal Country is honoured to present Affection: Papunya Tula Women’s Art, in 2022.

This exhibition acknowledges and celebrates women who for over the past 25 years have been at the fore of this pivotal art movement, pertinent to the regions of Kintore and Kiwirrkura in the Western Desert. It also commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, entirely owned and directed by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert.

This unique private collection of works spans 1996 – 2022 and features 50 artworks to celebrate Papunya Tula’s 50th anniversary.

About Papunya Tula Artists

The Papunya Tula Art Movement began in 1971 when a school teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, encouraged some of the men to paint a blank school wall. The murals sparked off tremendous interest in the community and soon many men started painting. In 1972 the artists successfully established their own company.

The company is entirely owned and directed by traditional Aboriginal people from the Western Desert, predominantly of the Luritja/Pintupi language groups. It has 49 shareholders and now represents around 120 artists.

The company derives its name from Papunya, a settlement 240km north-west of Alice Springs.

Papunya settlement was established as an administrative centre by the government for the Aboriginal people who had moved in from the desert. Since then many Pintupi and Luritja people have moved back to their homelands and continue their strong ceremonial tie to the Land.

The company, initially based in the Papunya area, has met the challenges posed by the homelands movement in the last decade, and now extends its operations into Western Australia (covering an area which extends to 700km west of Alice Springs).

The Papunya Tula painting style derives directly from the artists’ knowledge of traditional body and sand painting associated with ceremony. To portray these dreamtime creation stories for the public, has required the removal of sacred symbols and the careful monitoring of ancestral designs.

The work of the Papunya Tula artists is highly regarded. The high standard of the work and its unmistakable and powerful style has resulted in the Papunya Tula artists being represented in most public galleries, major museums, institutions and many large private collections within Australia as well as overseas.

The aim of the company is to promote individual artists, provide economic development for the communities to which they belong, and assist in the maintenance of a rich cultural heritage.

Image: Kim Napurrula (Pintupi), Untitled 2018. Acrylic polymer on Belgian linen. © the artist I Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd 

 

When

Location

Museum of Art and Culture (MAC), 1A First Street, Booragul 2284, Booragul 2284  View in Google Maps