In the early 1970s at Papunya, a remote settlement in the Central Australian desert, a group of Indigenous artists decided to communicate the sacred power of their traditional knowledge to the wider worlds beyond their own. Their exceptional, innovative efforts led to an outburst of creative energy across the continent that gave rise to the contemporary Aboriginal art movement that continues to this day. In their new book, anthropologist Fred Myers and art critic Terry Smith discuss six Papunya paintings featured in a 2022 exhibition in New York. They draw on several discourses that have developed around First Nations art—notably anthropology, art history, and curating as practiced by Indigenous and non-Indigenous interpreters. Their focus on six key paintings enables unusually close and intense insight into the works’ content and extraordinary innovation. Six Paintings from Papunya also includes a reflection by Indigenous curator and scholar Stephen Gilchrist, who reflects on the nature and significance of this rare transcultural conversation.
- Cover
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. The Eternal Recurrence of Origins / Kingsley Tjungurrayi, Stars, Rain, and Lightning at Night, 1971
- 2. The Ceremony Is the Place: The Past Is the Present / Shorty Lungkarta Tjungurrayi, Classic Pintupi Water Dreaming, 1972
- 3. The Icy Spirit: The Structure of Punishment / Wartuma (Charlie Tarawa/Tjaruru) Tjungurrayi, The Trial, 1972
- 4. Inside and Outside: A Cave Allegory / Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Big Cave Dreaming with Ceremonial Objects, 1972
- 5. Stippling Plenitude: “The Water Man Does Not Get Wet—He is the Rain Itself” / Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa, 1972
- 6. Dotting and Weaving / Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa (with Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri), Ngalyipi (A Small Snake), 1972
- Six Paintings from Papunya: A Reflection / Stephen Gilchrist
- Language and Person Names
- Glossary
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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