Payu Napaltjarri

Marrapinti

2019

In the Tjukurrpa, a group of ancestral women camped at the rockhole at Marrapinti during their travels eastward. While there, they made nose bones, which are also known as marrapinti. Nose bones are a form of body ornament made by piercing the nose web and inserting a bone. This was often done by older women for younger women who were participating in the ceremony. Nose bones were originally used by both men and women but are now only inserted by the older generation during ceremonies.

Language Group: Pintupi
Date: Born 1955

Payu Napaltjarri was born at Karilywarra rockhole, west of the Pollock Hills, circa 1952. Sister of Joseph Jurra Tjapaltjarri, she was married to Freddy West Tjakamarra, who was one of the founding members of Papunya Tula Artists. For the early part of her life, she lived in the vicinity of Kiwirrkura. In 1964, Payu and her family were met by a welfare patrol led by Jeremy Long and Nosepeg Tjupurrula in the Pollock Hills area and agreed to be taken to Papunya. At Papunya, they lived on the western fringes of the community with other Pintupi speakers. She then spent time in both Kintore and Balgo, where she gave birth to five sons and one daughter before settling in Kiwirrkura, where she currently resides. In 1999, Payu contributed to the Kiwirrkura women’s painting as part of the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal.

PAYU NAPALTJARRI, Marrapinti, 2019

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 24 × 21 5/8 in. (61 × 55 cm). Commissioned by Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter for Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past and Present Together.

Payu Napaltjarri near Walungurru (Kintore) with Yunytjunya in the background, 1981.

Photo by Fred Myers.

Payu Napaltjarri and child with Freddy West Tjakamarra, 1980.

Photo by Andrew Crocker of Papunya Tula Artists.

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