Diploma Lecture Series 2011 Art and ll: European Preludes and Parallels

Papunya Tula: icons of the desert

Roger Benjamin

21 / 22 September 2011

Lecture summary:

In February 2009 Cornell University art museum launched the first-ever exhibition devoted to the earliest ‘boards’ (1971-72), which gave birth to the ensuing movement. Exhibition curator Roger Benjamin will discuss the origins and vicissitudes of the exhibition, which included negotiations with traditional owners who forbad the reproduction of secret/sacred images. The exhibition travelled to Los Angeles and New York, and set a precedent in the handling of works considered culturally sensitive.

The lecture examines the early stages of the movement, and proposes the boards have been subject to a curatorial and market “fetish” that has seen them isolated as an aesthetic and historical category, and subject to the greatest accrual of value ever seen in the Australian artworld. Prof Benjamin will also give an account of the development of Papunya art over a two-year period, focussing on major artists like , Johnny Warrangula Tjupurrula, Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, and Clifford Possum Tjapaljarri. Icons of the Desert presaged the larger exhibition Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art , which opens on the 27 th September at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Slide list: 1. Herbert F Johsnon Museum of Art by I.M. Pei, 1971 (Cornell U) + Fowler Museum, UCLA 2. Icons of the Desert at Cornell with Bobby West Tjupurrula, Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri and Ray James Tjangala, Feb 2009 3. Ray James Tjangala and Bobby West applying wamulu to Cornell ground painting 4. Ray James Tjangala and Bobby West applying finishing touches Cornell ground painting 5. Map of Central and Western Desert nations/languages (IAD map) 6. Papunya from the air, c. 1973-4, photo Michael Jensen 7. with US Davis Cup player, c. 1957 + Namatjira, Grass Trees , c. 1950 8. (far right) with senior men outside ‘Great Painting Room’, Papunya, early 1972 *9. Honey Ant Dreaming , mural at Papunya Special School, Jly-Aug 1971 + Mural in Jly 1972, before effacement by govt authorities 10. Anatjari Tjakamarra, Man Dreaming shield 1972 + Clifford Possu, Carved Snake 1973, NMA 11. Old Walter Tjampitjinpa (L), Old Mick Tjakamarra w sand mosaic for Bardon’s film A Calendar of Dreamings, 1974 12. Possum ceremony for filming by Bardon’s team, 1973. Tim Leura (L) Old Henry Tjungurrayi (R) *13. Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Men’s Ceremony for Gulgardi, July 1971 + Namatjira, Mount Sonder , c. 1950 14. Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Mikanji, October 1971, Wilkerson Coll, NYC 15. Michael Jensen, photo of Kaapa Tjampitjinpa at work on Children’s Story, ca Sept 1972 16. Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, A Joke Story , early 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC 17. Tim Leura, Family Funny Story , 1972 + Tim Leura, Seven Sisters Dreaming , 1973 18. Great Painting Room, Papunya, ca. September 1972, photo Michael Jensen 19. Charlie Tarawa Tjungurrayi (l) and Johnny Warrangula Tjupurrula (r), photo Michael Jensen 20. Johnny Warrangula painting Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa , c. Sept 1972, photo Michael Jensen *21. Johhny Warrangula Tjupurrula, Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa , 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC 22. Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, two Water Dreamings , 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC 23. Old Walter Tjampitjinpa, Rainbow and Water Story , ca. Sept 1972, photo Michael Jensen *24. Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Big Cave Dreaming with Large Ceremonial Object , mid 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC. 25. Tim Leura, Yala Dreaming , c. late 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC. 26. Clifford Possum, Bush Tucker ‘Yargla’ Story, late 1972 (Wilkerson) 27. Clifford Possum, Warlukurlong - Bushfire Dreaming 1976, (Wilkerson) + Clifford Possum, Warlukurlong 1977 (NGA) 28. Shorty Lungkata Tjugurrayi, Tingari Ceremony at Illingawarngawurng , Yayai, 1974, acrylic on canvas (Wilkerson) 29. Tommy Lowry Tjapaltjarri, Two Men Dreaming, 1984 30. Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi, Wind Dreaming (1972) and Tingari Dreaming (1989) (Wilkerson) 31. Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, Untitled, 2005 (Wilkerson) 32. Papunya Tula painting studio at Kintore, NT in 2007 33. Ningura Napurrula, and her ceiling at the Quai Branly Museum, Paris, 2006 34. Collaborative women’s painting for Swimming Pool fundraiser, c. 2005 *35. Bobby West Tjupurrula, Untitled , 2011, General Painting Prize, Telstra Art Awards, August 2011

Bibliography:

Bardon, Geoffrey and James Bardon, Papunya—A Place made after the Story , : Miegunyah Press, 2004.

Benjamin, Roger et al., Icons of the Desert: Early Aboriginal Paintings from Papunya, Ithaca, NY: Herbert F. Johnson Museum, and Cornell University Press, 2009.

Johnson, Vivien, Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists , : IAD Press, 2008.

Johnson, Vivien, Once Upon a Time in Papunya , Sydney: UNSW Press, 2010.

Myers, Fred R., Painting culture: the making of an aboriginal high art , Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002.

Perkins, Hetti and Hannah Fink, eds, Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Sydney: AGNSW, 2000.

Website: Iconsofthedesert.com

Honey Ant Dreaming , mural at Papunya Special School, Jly-Aug 1971

Mural in Jly 1972, before effacement by govt authorities

Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Men’s Ceremony for Gulgardi, July 1971

Namatjira, Mount Sonder , watercolour, c. 1950

Johhny Warrangula Tjupurrula, Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa , 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Big Cave Dreaming with Large Ceremonial Object , mid 1972, Wilkerson Coll, NYC.

Bobby West Tjupurrula, Untitled , 2011, General Painting Prize, Telstra Art Awards, August 2011