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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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Martin Tjampitjinpa

Muyinnga
2004

The roundels in this painting represent the claypans at the site of Muyinnga, slightly west of the Walungurru (Kintore) Community. In ancestral times a group of Tingarri men of the Tjampitjinpa and Tjangala kinship subsections camped at this site as they traveled towards the west. The men later visited at an important site known as Ngurrapulangu and onto Walawala.

His career, albeit brief, was definitely a highlight for many of us that worked here during his time. I was never totally convinced that the mainstream really understood and appreciated his vision, but we certainly did. He was completely unique.

PAUL SWEENEY, Manager, Papunya Tula Artists

Language Group: Pintupi
Dates: c. 1960s-2007

Born in the mid 1960s to famous Pintupi artists Uta Uta Tjangala and Walangkura Napangangka, Martin completed his first work for Papunya Tula Artists in 1994, and he began to contribute regularly in 2002. Martin refers to similar sites of significance and Tingari song cycles as his father, such as Muyinnga, Ngurrapulangu, and Yumari. His work is held in numerous important collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia.

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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