Thomas Tjapaltjarri / Tingari (TTJ128)

1964 – 2024

Thomas Tjapaltjarri and his family created international headlines when they walked out of the desert west of Lake Mackay into the small Kiwirrkura community, just inside the West Australian border west of Alice Springs in 1984. Described as “The Lost Tribe” and “Pintupi Nine,” they were the last known group of people to make contact with white society. They had survived for so long in the harsh environment of the Australian desert through their intimate knowledge of the land and its secrets, passed down from their ancestors over thousands of years, but eventually succumbed to the diminishing availability of water and bush tucker—kangaroos, lizards, snakes, goannas, and underground food sources that were vital for nutrition.

Thomas was brother to Warlimpirrnga, Walala, Yukultji, Yalti and Tjakaria, also acclaimed artists. He began painting around 1990 for the Papunya Tula Artists co-operative and quickly developed his own rhythmic visual language to depict country and ceremony.

Thomas portrayed his sacred terrain in a strikingly unique way. His work demonstrated uncommon strength, balance, and poetic harmony. The subject of his paintings was the Tingari Cycle—secret song cycles sacred to men. The Tingari are a group of Ancestor Beings connected to numerous Dreaming sites, stretching from near the West Australian border to Central Australia. These stories and songlines were depicted in the traditional ochre colours of the desert.

His paintings mapped both the physical and spiritual dimensions of his sacred country, and his mastery of structure and composition placed him at the forefront of contemporary Indigenous painting.

Thomas was a quiet and reserved man who often seemed to have one foot in the past, deeply connected to the traditional way of life he loved so dearly. He found it difficult to fully adjust to the modern world, but when he painted, he would quietly “sing his way” through the story of each work.

Thomas’ works are held in important private and corporate collections around the world.

Thomas passed away in 2024. He was a remarkable artist and a deeply respected cultural custodian. His presence and powerful artworks will be greatly missed, but his legacy lives on in the stories he so beautifully shared through his art.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025
• The Pintupi Nine: Tradition and Legacy, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2024
• Small is beautiful, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• Pintupi Nine, Art Mob, Hobart
• ICONIC, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• Tingari – Desert Men, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle

2023
• Central Desert Showcase, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• Survey, Works from the Dalrymple Community Cultural Centre Trust Collection, Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, Townsville QLD

2022
• Nations 2022, Art Mob, at the Henry Jones Art Hotel Packing Room, Hobart
• Connection, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• Sandhill Country | Paintings of Inland Australia, Japingka Gallery, Freemantle
• Art Mob’s 20th Birthday Exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart

2021
• Private Collection | Private View: One Collector’s Passion & Soul, Cooee Art, Redfern
• 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• Voyage across Aboriginal Australia – Founders’ Favourites, Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Moitiers, Switzerland

2020
• Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart

2019
• An Exhibition on TJAPALTJARRI Brothers from the Indigenous Lost Tribe, Mandel Art Gallery, Melbourne
• Defining Tradition: the first wave & its disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• Pintupi Artists of the Western Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA
• Warlimpirrnga, Walala and Thomas Tjaplajarri Exhibitions, Mitchell Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane

2018
• Three Brothers, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2012
• Meeting Cultures: Australian Contemporary Aboriginal Art – ARTECLASICA (Argentina Art Fair)

2010
• Lost Tribe, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
• 2022 Connection | Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples in a spectacular immersive experience, National Museum of Australia, Canberra

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
• Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne
• The Henderson Family Collection, Sydney
• Pat Corrigan Collection, Sydney
• Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice
• Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Motiers, Switzerland
• Dalrymple Community Cultural Centre Trust Collection, Charters Towers QLD

During the Tjukurrpa (Creation Era), the Tingari Ancestor Beings travelled vast stretches of the desert, gathering at a series of sacred sites for Malliera (Initiation) Ceremonies. As they moved across the land, they performed rituals at specific places, shaping the natural features of the landscape. These features are represented here by the rectangular forms—symbols of the earth and its creation.

The Tingari men were accompanied by novices and often followed by Tingari women. The journeys, stories, and ceremonies they carried out form the basis of the songlines* that continue to guide ceremonial life today. These sacred narratives not only teach young men after initiation but also hold deep explanations for contemporary customs and cultural practices.

*Songlines are sung pathways of ancestral knowledge—narratives embedded in the landscape. They trace the journeys of creation beings across Country, linking places through story. At each site, specific rituals are performed to enact and preserve the knowledge tied to that place.