Timmy Payungka (1942 – 7 May 2000) 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 Isl ...

artist, a

Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into ...

man who worked at the

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 ...

school of

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was born at Parayirpilynga, near Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He met his wife at Warburton. His family was met by a welfare patrol at Yarrana, west of Kintore,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, and brought in 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 ...

early in the 1960s. He was one of the original painting men with

Geoffrey Bardon Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM (1940, Sydney – 6 May 2003) was an Australian school teacher who was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal art of the Western Desert movement. Bardon studied law for three years at the University of Sydney, b ...

. He moved to Kintore in 1981 and was active in later establishing the settlement at

Kiwirrkura Kiwirrkurra, gazetted as Kiwirrkurra Community, is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland and west of Alice Springs. It had a population of 165 in 2016, mostly Aboriginal Australians.Australian Burea ...

, closer to his country. Payungka was an important law man, knowledgeable about many stories and rituals. According to Daphne Williams of Papunya Tula, a trip west from Alice Springs to Kintore with Timmy could take two or three times as long as a trip without him, so great was his enthusiasm for stopping along the way to tell his companions the stories of the land they passed through. He taught his daughter, Lorna Napanangka, to paint. A solo exhibition of his work was displayed at Aboriginal and South Pacific Gallery in Sydney. His work ''Kangaroo and Shield People Dreaming at Lake MacKay'' (1980) depicts part of a sacred men's story of his people. Payungka also played an integral role in the " carpets case", a successful 1994 lawsuit dealing with the application of

copyright in Australia The copyright law of Australia defines the legally enforceable rights of creators of creative and artistic works under Australian law. The scope of copyright in Australia is defined in the ''Copyright Act 1968'' (as amended), which applies the ...

and

Indigenous intellectual property Indigenous intellectual property is a term used in national and international forums to describe intellectual property that is "collectively owned" by various Indigenous peoples, and by extension, their legal rights to protect specific such prop ...

Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...

s, along with

Banduk Marika Banduk Mamburra Wananamba Marika (13 October 1954 – 12 July 2021) was an artist and printmaker from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. She was a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, whose traditional land is Yalangb ...

George Milpurrurru George Milpurrurru (1934–1998) was an Australian Aboriginal artist known for his bark paintings. Biography Milpurrurru was born in 1934 and raised in central Arnhem Land, specifically Ganalbingu land, where he learned his artistry. He came ...

and five others. A

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 i ...

company had used ''Kangaroo and Shield People Dreaming'' for copying onto rugs to be made in Vietnam. He also advocated for the resettlement of the

homelands. In his later years, Timmy lived in Alice Springs and was assisted in his painting by his wife, Emily. He died on 7 May 2000.

References

External links

Timmy Payungka Tjapangati
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Aboriginal artists 1940s births 2000 deaths Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Artists from the Northern Territory 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters {{Australia-painter-stub

See also

References

External links