Wenten Rubuntja AM (1923–2005), an Arrernte law man, worked across a variety of pastoral jobs and was renowned as a sharp-dressing, daring cowboy and jockey at the Hermannsburg Races before he began painting and became involved in advocacy. Summarising the trajectory of his life, he said that when he saw the great artist Albert Namatjira at work, 'Me been forget about stock work – I been sit down with the painting now, till I get to now. For reconciliation and all the organisations, Land Council, Congress, Legal Aid and all that one.' In 1975, Charles Perkins and Rubuntja became chair and deputy chair respectively of the new Central Aboriginal Land Council. Rubuntja was its subsequent chair, and in 1988 he and Yunupingu AM (1948-2023) presented Prime Minister Bob Hawke with the Barunga Statement, calling for a treaty. His paintings – in both 'Namatjira style' and Papunya dot style, depending on their themes – are held in the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and many other collections.
Rubuntja's life story is told in the strikingly original co-written autobiographical history The Town Grew Up Dancing: The Life and Art of Wenten Rubuntja (2002). Photographer Greg Weight travelled with Rubuntja to take a series of images for the book. This photograph was taken at Akepelye (Jessie Gap), a significant ancestral site associated with the Caterpillar Dreaming.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2023
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