Indigenous Art of the Dreamtime

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa

62. Tingari 1996, 122 x 61cm

The Pintupi men have a relaxed and simplified way of painting. Indeed, commenting on this in 1999, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, a Warlpiri man, suggested that Pintupi art was too refined - too simplified. This was not meant as a criticism, in fact there was a great deal of respect implied.

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s work is characteristic of the Pintupi, relying for its effectiveness on a repetition of forms which are geometric, simple and bold.

Pintupi homelands stretch well into Western Australia beyond the Northern Territory border and beyond the Kintore Ranges. Like many other families of their time, Ronnie’s relatives and forebears moved continuously across their territory living a traditional, nomadic way of life. Those traditions coupled with a deep knowledge of his land formed the basis of his art.

63. Men’s Ceremony, Montardi 1996, 125 x 89cm

Ronnie was born near Muyinga about 1943 and was initiated into manhood at Yumari near his birthplace. The difficult drought conditions of the 1950’s meant that the family group moved in from the inhospitable desert towards the settlement at Haast Bluff. After the federal government established a settlement at Papunya in 1959, Ronnie’s family eventually settled there. In his late teens he found work as a fencer on government projects.

Papunya is situated 32km north of the McDonnell Ranges and the government felt secure in their judgement that the settlement would facilitate the assimilation of the desert people. Regular supplies of food and bore water were the basic reasons why Pintupi, Warlpiri, Luritja, Arrernte and Anmatyerre people agreed on an attempt to coexist in a situation which was far from ideal. None of the tribespeople there were on traditional territory. Indeed Geoff Bardon, resident schoolteacher there in 1971-2, later described Papunya as an abysmal place where alcohol, tribal jealousies and violence were rife. This was the situation in which Ronnie Tjampitjinpa grew up.

His work has been shown in international exhibitions many times and he is represented in major private collections such as the Donald Khan Collection and the Kelton Foundation in the United States of America. He prospered as an artist during the late 1980’s winning the Alice Springs Art Prize in 1988. The following year he travelled to Melbourne for his first one-man show at the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi. Subsequently he was included in ‘Australian Perspecta 1993’ at the Art Gallery of NSW. From 1993 Ronnie was Chairman of the Kintore Outstation Council, residing at his outstation at Redbank (Ininti). His work was displayed prominently in Sydney at the Jinta Gallery in 1998 in their ‘Pintupi Men’ exhibition.

These successes have established him as one of the masters of desert art. He was there at the beginning and will continue to work strongly into the next century. Ronnie Tjampitjinpa is the personification of a linkage to the traditional ways and beliefs that certainly will be modified by the current generation of painters. Whilst his works may be regarded as ‘contemporary art’ in the great galleries of the world we should remember that his beliefs and background exemplify the ancient nature of his people. His is one of the last of the genuine desert nomads. Consequently his art takes on a meaning and importance well beyond the expectations aroused when we are confronted with visual art of our own Euro-centric culture.

64. Tingari 1998, 125 x 101cm


65. Tingari 1998, 128 x 101cm

The Tingari stories recount the creation-time travel of a particular important group of elders who taught ritual knowledge to initiates. Generally, the Tingari are a group of mythical ancestors of the Dreaming, who travelled over vast stretches of the country, performing rituals and creating and shaping particular sites.

The Tingari men are usually followed by Tingari women and accompanied by novices and their travel and adventures are enshrined in a number of song cycles. The concentric circles represent the sites where the Tingari men stopped during their travels. These mythologies form part of the teaching of the post initiate youths as well as providing explanations for contemporary customs. Due to the secret nature of the ceremonies, no further details were given.