Also known as
Nosepeg Tjunkata Tjupurrula,
Jungkata Nosepeg Tjupurrula
Artist (Painter)
Nosepeg began painting at the beginning of the art movement in Papunya. A consummate politician and a senior elder in his community he was a driving force in the outstation movement from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Born c. 1914 in Pintupi/Wenampa country. An account of Nosepeg’s early contacts with European culture is included in Wildbird Dreaming (Amadio & Kimber 1988). Nosepeg began painting at the beginning of the art movement in Papunya – including depictions of his Bush Tobacco and Grass Seed Dreaming stories, but his role in the community always took precedence over painting. His remarkable life is the subject of a documentary directed by Billy Marshall Stoneking (1989). He reputedly appeared in more screen roles than any other Australian, including Jedda , Journey Out Of Darkness and the television series Whiplash and Boney . Into his mid seventies, Nosepeg was still a leading identity and one of the most important elders in Aboriginal Central Australia – a cross-cultural negotiator who was a friend of politicians as diverse as Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser and a force behind the outstation movement of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
Writers:
Johnson, Vivien
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011
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Other occupations
Army (ANZSIC code: 7600) (Army enlisted in the Army during World War II along with Charlie Tarawa)
Army (Army enlisted in the Army during World War II along with Charlie Tarawa)