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This website was developed for the exhibition Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: Fifty Years of Papunya Tula Artists that was on view at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia from 2021-23 and the Embassy of Australia in Washington, DC in 2024. It was made possible by our creative partnership with Papunya Tula Artists and the generous support of UVA Arts Council. Site design by Urban Fugitive for V21 Artspace.
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Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa

Men's Ceremony
c. 1974

As the painters garnered attention, artists were invited to participate in numerous important exhibitions across Australia, Canada, and the United States. Bob Edwards, the director of the Aboriginal Arts Board, encouraged the artists to create larger paintings to capture global attention and commissioned the first works on canvas in 1974. This canvas is one of them. Paintings on canvas could be rolled, which made them easier to transport and allowed the artists to work on a grander scale, but it was different from painting on board. Canvas absorbs more paint, allowing for differing levels of translucency and opacity, which Dinny Nolan exploits to create areas of shimmering depth.

They’re making rain, Tjampitjinpa, Tjangala, they’re singing. Tjakamarra, Tjupurrula too. After one week, you’ll see the clouds. From no clouds, you’ll see those clouds. Every way lightning, then a big wind, from the song. Start him raining now, the rain will come out.

KAAPA TJAMPITJINPA with DINNY NOLAN TJAMPITJINPA

Language Group: Warlpiri
Dates: c. 1928-2012

Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa was one of the original shareholders at Papunya Tula Artists. He worked as a stockman before following in the footsteps of his cousins, Clifford Possum, Tim Leura, and Billy Stockman, and joining the group of painters. He became a leading artist and public face of the movement in the 1980s, and in 1981 he traveled alongside fellow artist, Paddy Caroll Tjungurrayi, to help construct one of the first sand paintings ever seen outside of Central Australia at the S.H Erwin Gallery in Sydney. Dinny Nolan was a leader among the Warlpiri people with authority over Rainmaking and Water Dreaming ceremonies. In 1991, he toured the United States, again with Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi, visiting colleges and Native American communities.

Biographical information sourced from Vivien Johnson, Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists. Alice Springs: IAD Press, 2008.

Are you related to this artist? Are you a scholar of artwork from the Papunya Tula movement? Please contact us at kluge-ruhe@virginia.edu if you would like to add something to this page or see something that is missing or incorrect.
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