Walala Tjapaltjarri b. c. 1960s

Walala Tjapaltjarri’s exact birth date is unknown, but estimated to be some time in the early 1960s. Walala was born in the remote western desert country of Central Australia, and grew into adulthood steeped in a deeply traditional lifestyle, in accordance with the nomadic culture of his ancestors. In late 1984, Walala and eight other members of his family emerged into Kiwirrkurra after several years of wandering the Gibson Desert. This was their first time learning of European colonization, and was their first encounter with white people and Western society. Walala and his family group became famous, often known as the “Pintupi Nine” or the “The Lost Tribe”. Walala commenced painting for Papunya Tula Artist Co-op in the late 1980s. Some of his family members also went on to have artistic careers, namely his brothers Wirrlimpirrnga and Thomas Tjapaltjarri (dec.).

Walala paints designs associated with the Tingari Dreaming, or the Tingari Song Cycle, deeply significant Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) songlines that intersect the vast Western Desert, and encompass a cultural lattice of rituals, sacred sites, social structure and ancient law. In the Dreaming, ancestral beings roamed the open, featureless land. As they travelled, they performed rituals of song and dance, giving form and feature to the desert landscape. All elements of the natural environment were created as the Tingari ancestors moved across vast expanses of the desert. The creation stories of the Tingari ancestors have been embodied into song cycles; oral narratives that encompass the traditional laws, beliefs, and social structures that guide Pintupi people, and that have been passed down from initiated elders to the younger generations for tens of thousands of years. Using various iconography, Walala shows the travels of the Tingari ancestors as they move across Country. 

Walala’s style is strongly gestural and boldly graphic, defined by undulating geometric forms set against monochrome backgrounds. Walala is a widely acclaimed artist, represented in a number of prestigious collections, and has been exhibited around Australia and the world.