Walala Tjapaltjarri, artist, was born between the late 1960s and early 1970s near Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) in the Pilbara. He and his family made international headlines in 1984 when they left their nomadic desert life and joined family in the community of Kiwirrkura in Western Australia. At the time, various news outlets seized on the family's story, publishing a number of curious, sometimes invasive reports about the so-called 'Lost Tribe' and the 'Pintupi Nine'. Tjapaltjarri began painting at Kiwirrkura in 1997, encouraged by his older brother Warlimpirrnga, who is also an internationally recognised artist. Tjapaltjarri's early works focused on traditional Tingari designs that were traditionally used for ground and body painting. Over time he developed his own style as he abstracted Pintupi designs which focused on the topographic features and Dreaming stories of his Country. Tjapaltjarri's works have been shown in numerous group exhibitions in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and in solo shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Switzerland. Tjapaltjarri currently lives and works in Alice Springs.
From 2006 to 2010, Greg Weight travelled extensively through central Australia meeting and photographing contemporary Pintupi and Warlpiri artists. This photograph of Tjapaltjarri is one of the portraits included in his resulting book Artists of the Western Desert (2011).
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2022
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a
Reproduction request. For further information please contact
NPG Copyright.
