Walala Tjapaltjarri / Tingari (WT053)

Walala was born c. 1960 at Marua, east of Kiwirrkura in the Gibson Desert – he is of the Pintupi Tribe of the Central/Western Desert.  Walala is part of the famous “Lost Tribe” of 1984, when he and eight of his Pintupi people walked out of the bush to encounter the white man for the first time.  This incredible event made headlines around the world.  Prior to this time, the tribe had lived a traditional life of hunter/food-gatherers.

Walala and his brothers, in particular Warlimpirrnga and Thomas, have achieved International acclaim as artists, painting the Tingari Cycle, the Dreaming of his ancestors.  These Dreamtime Ancestors are said to have travelled through their land creating certain sites and teaching the law.  Walala paints images of these travels – the rockholes, sandhills, landform, water soakages and ceremonial sites including Wilkinkarra, Maruwa, Tarrku, Njami and Yarrawangu, in the Gibson Desert.

Walala has a highly personalised style, bold and strongly graphic.  His use of colour is clever and his depictions of the Tingari cycle classically abstract in form.

Walala first started exhibiting his work in 1997 (in the 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin) and he has been involved with a number of group exhibitions since, as well as having several solo shows. His paintings are represented in private and public collections in Australia, Europe and the USA.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
• Gantner Myer Aboriginal Art Collection
• The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, U.S.A.
• Kaplan & Levi Collection, Seattle, USA
• AMP Investments Australia, Sydney
• Axiom Funds Management, Sydney
• CNC International Corporation, Sydney
• Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Perth.
• El Paso Energy International Co, Houston, Texas
• Epic Energy Australia, Brisbane
• Hastings Funds Management, Melbourne

During the Tjukurrpa (Creation Era) Tingari ancestor beings gathered at a series of sites for Malliera (Initiation) Ceremonies. They travelled vast stretches of the country, performing rituals at specific sites that in turn created the diverse natural features of the environment (depicted here as the rectangles – the earth and circle – waterholes). The Tingari men were accompanied by novices and usually followed by Tingari Women. The creation stories and rituals form the song cycles and ceremonies of today, used in part, for the teachings of the post initiatory youths, whilst also providing explanations for contemporary customs.