Kumantje Jagamara (1946 – November 2020), also known as Kumantje Nelson Jagamara, Michael Minjina Nelson Tjakamarra, Michael Nelson Tjakamarra and variations (Kumantye, Jagamarra, Jakamara), was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

painter. He was one of the most significant proponents of the

Western Desert art movement Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...

, an early style of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.

Early life and education

Kumantje Jagamara (the name preferred by his family) was born at Pikilyi, aka Vaughan Springs,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

(about west of

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...

), around 1946. His parents were both Walpiri and his father was an important "Medicine Man" in the Yuendumu community. He lived a traditional lifestyle, and his grandfather taught him

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

-, and

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

-painting. He first saw white men at

Mount Doreen Station Mount Doreen Station is a pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about north east of Papunya and approximately north west of Alice Springs just off the Tanami Track in the central ...

, and remembers hiding in the bush in fear. Jagamara lived at Haasts Bluff for a time with the same family group as Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra. Later his parents took him to Yuendumu for European education at the mission school.

Career

He left school after initiation and spent some time working jobs such as pig shooting, driving trucks and droving cattle. He spent time in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

before coming back to Yuendumu and then moving to

Papunya Papunya (Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, ...

in 1976 (after the death of his father) to settle and marry Marjorie Napaltjarri. He worked in the government store and observed the work of many of the older artists at

Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...

for many years (including working under the instruction of his uncle Jack Tjurpurrula) before he began to paint regularly in 1983. He was invited to join Papynya Artists in that year, and became one if its most well-known members. Jagamara painted Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Flying Ant and Yam Dreamings for the area around Pikilyi. In 1983, Jagamara was commissioned to create the forecourt

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

at the new

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. The mosaic, ''Possum and Wallaby Dreaming'', is based on his painting of the same name. The mosaic shows "a gathering of a large group of people from the

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

, wallaby and goanna ancestors hoare meeting to talk and to enact ceremonial obligations. The work derives from the sand-painting tradition of the Warlpiri people, and has complex layers of meaning known only to Warlpiri elders". Three

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

s took 18 months to two years to hand-cut the 90,000 granite

setts A sett, also known as a block or Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used in paving roads and walkways. Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provided horses' hooves with better grip tha ...

which were used in the artwork. In 1985 he painted "Five Stories 1984". In the mid-1980s, he engaged in cross-cultural collaboration, notably with artist Tim Johnson, and moved away from the usual Papunya style and colours. In 1996, Jagamara established a long-term relationship with

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

art dealer Michael Eather, around the same time starting to work with Brisbane’s

Campfire Group Michael Eather (born 1963) is a contemporary Australian artist based in Brisbane, who helped found the Campfire Group, a significant cross-cultural artistic collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. Eather grew up and was educ ...

. He worked alongside Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi in the second

Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. GOMA, which opened on 2 December 2006, is the largest ...

at QAGOMA. In 2012, he was appointed by the NT Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority as one of a group of five people to determine which of the early Papunya boards held by the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...

(MAGNT) should be selected for public display.

Work with Imants Tillers

In 1985, non-Indigenous artist Imants Tillers incorporated "Five Stories" in one of his own paintings, called "The Nine Shots", which ignited a debate about

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

and ethical issues surrounding the use of traditional Indigenous imagery by non-Indigenous artists. However, in 2001, the two men became friends, and collaborated over many years on a number of paintings (24 between 2001 and 2018). One of these collaborations, "Metafisica Australe" (2017) is held by QAGOMA in

, in its Australian Art Collection. This work incorporates elements of "Five Stories", the story of the two artists' entanglement and journeys, and ethical issues relating to non-Indigenous artists using references to Indigenous art. The work consists of 36

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

boards created Jagamara as the centre of another 36 surrounding boards.

Style

His painting style was initially meticulous dot-painting in the Papunya style, but he later simplified this, and by 2000 his work was described as "

expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and more " calligraphic" and flowing. His work and his life, Jagamara "held true to his

jukurrpa The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

", which involved the Warlpiri interconnected cultural knowledge system and its law, with especial connection to place. Pikilyi is an important sacred site for

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

, at the junction of a number of different Dreamings, which are represented in his art work, including Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Flying Ant and Yam.

Recognition, awards, honours

He won the inaugural National Aboriginal Art Award (now known as the Telstra Award) in September 1984 with his painting "Three Ceremonies". In 1987 an long painting by Jagamara was installed in the foyer of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

. He was introduced to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1988 at the opening of the New Parliament House, as the designer of the

in the forecourt of the building. His 1985 painting "Five Stories 1984" was one of the most reproduced works of Australian art in the 1980s. It was exhibited at the 1986 Biennale of Sydney, and was included in the South Australian Museum's ''Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia'', which toured to the New York’s

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

Galleries in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1988, and elsewhere in the US. It appeared on the cover of the exhibition catalogue. Jagamara travelled to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with Billy Stockman Japaltjarri for the opening of the show, which was the start of his gaining an international audience. (In 2016, the painting sold for the highest price ever paid for a painting by a living Aboriginal artist, with £401,000 (AUD$687,877 at the time) paid for it at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.) In 1989 he had his first

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other s ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

at the

Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi Gabrielle Pizzi (1940 – 5 December 2004), born Gabrielle Wren, was an Australian art dealer who promoted Aboriginal art from the Western Desert from the early 1980s. She created the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in Melbourne in 1987. In 1990, Gabri ...

, and participated in the BMW Art Car Project by hand painting an M3 race car. Jagamara was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in the 1993 Australia Day Honours for service to art. In 1994 he was granted a Fellowship from the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

's Visual Arts Board. He was elected president of the Papunya Community Council in the 1990s, and also 2002–2004. In 2006 his "Big Rain", a painting in

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

style, won the Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize. From September 2016, a new

Australian five-dollar note The Australian five-dollar note was first issued on 29 May 1967, fifteen months after the currency was changed from the pound to the dollar on 14 February 1966. It was a new denomination with mauve colouration – the pre-decimal system ha ...

was introduced, featuring the Jagamara's mosaic at Parliament House.

Later life and legacy

Jagamara died in November 2020, with his funeral in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

on 14 March 2021 attended by hundreds, including his longtime friend Vivien Johnson. A letter from the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, was read at the funeral. Jagamara was one of the most significant proponents of the Western Desert style of painting, which remains an important style of contemporary Indigenous Australian art. His work lives on at the Sydney Opera House, at Parliament House (which was also digitally preserved after being photographed in 2019) and on the five-dollar banknote (updated with new signatures in 2019).

Exhibitions

Jagamara has exhibited his work in many exhibitions (including several solo exhibitions) and these include: Redrock gallery and Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in Melbourne; Utopia Art Sydney;

Australian National Gallery The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

;

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

; and John Weber Gallery,

Collections

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

, Sydney *

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

* Art Gallery of Western Australia,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

* Australian Museum, Sydney *Broken Hill Art Gallery,

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, NSW *

The Kelton Foundation The Kelton Foundation, also known as the Richard Kelton Foundation, in Santa Monica, California, was founded in 1983 as a private charitable organization by real estate developer Richard Kelton, who died in 2019. Its main activities comprise "ethnog ...

, Santa Monica,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, US * Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection,

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the N ...

, Darwin * National Gallery of Australia, Canberra * Parliament House, Canberra * Powerhouse Museum, Sydney *

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Gallery ...

(QAGOMA), Brisbane