Tutuma Tjapangati b. 1915 Western Australia, WA

Also known as Old Tutuma Japangardi
  • Artist (Painter)
One of the first Pintupi to own his own camels and one of the original Papunya Tula Artists, Tutuma was always eager to depict his Dreaming stories in a loose energetic style.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1994
Name
Tutuma Tjapangati
Also known as Old Tutuma Japangardi
Birth date
c.1915
Birth place
Western Australia, WA
Death date
1987
Death place
None
Gender
Male
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • c.1981- c.1987 Walangkura (Kintore), NT
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
Yes
Heritage Country
  • Lake Hopkins, WA
  • Lake McDonald, WA
Initial Record Data Source
  • Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert: A Biographical Dictionary
Copyright
  • Papunya Tula Artists

Of the Pintupi/Wenampa tribe, Tutuma was one of the first Pintupi to own his own camels, which he used to go on extensive trips throughout his country west of Lake McDonald. An important ceremonial leader, he was one of the original group of painters at Papunya, eager to depict his Dreaming stories onto board with paint. He travelled to Sydney in 1981 with Mick Namarari and Nosepeg for an exhibition of paintings at Sid’s Gallery Darlinghurst. His country lay west of Lake McDonald across the WA border and around Lake Hopkins. He moved out to Kintore with the rest of the Pintupi at the beginning of the ’80s and continued painting for Papunya Tula Artists until the mid ’80s, although hampered by failing eyesight.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien Note: primary biographer
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Mick Tjapaltjarri Namarari
1926
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Nosepeg Tjupurrula
1915
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Eunice Napanangka Jack
1940
Artist (Painter)
parent of
Eunice Napanangka Jack
1940
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Papunya Tula Artists
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Collections
1981
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Sid's Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Citations:
  • Bardon, Geoffrey and Bardon, James, (2004), Papunya: A Place Made After the Story; The Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement, (Place: Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, VIC ISBN-10 : 0-522-85110-X / ISBN-13: 978-0522851106)
  • Johnson, V., (2008), Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists, (Place: IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT ISBN 978 1 86465 090 7url: http://www/iadpress.com) http://www.iadpress.com