WESTERN DESERT

The Western Desert is a region of Central Australia that covers an estimated 600,000 square kilometres, and is home to several Aboriginal language groups. Contemporary Indigenous art, particularly the now widely recognised 'dot art' technique, originated in the small community of Papunya in the Northern Territory, notably with the establishment of the famed Papunya Tula Artist's Collective in the early 1970s. One of the last places on the continent to be influenced by European colonisation, artists from the Western Desert paint with great cultural authority, creating unique, timeless designs that translate aspects of their Country and its sacred stories.