Wangka Walytja – The Life and Times of the Papunya Literature Production Centre

Kulata Dennis Nelson Tjakamarrab.1962 is the son of Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, one of the founding artists of the Papunya painting movement, and Gladys (Yawitji) Napanangka, one of the first women to paint for Papunya Tula Artists. Kulata takes pride in painting meticulously in the style his father taught him. Warangkula also taught Kulata his stories and took him to the sites of Kalipinypa and Tjikarri he now paints for Papunya Tjupi Arts. The Wangka Walytja project reawakened Kulata’s love of drawing in the unique style he perfected over ten years illustrating over 100 bilingual storybooks for Papunya Literature Production Centre in the 1980s.   

Thomas Stevens Tjapangati (~1952-2005)  

Thomas Stevens’ talent for drawing was first discovered in Areyonga, where he worked as a builder’s labourer. Thomas’s sister married into the Namatjira family and Ewald Namatjira, son of Albert Namatjira, taught Thomas the use of a pen and paintbrush. Pitjantjatjara was Thomas’ mother tongue – he adopted the skin nameTjapangati after his marriage to Nosepeg Tjupurrula’s daughter Maureen Nampitjinpa. He lived in Papunya with his wife and sons Gibson and Donavan from the mid-1970s till the late ‘80s, illustrating books at the Papunya Literature Production Centre and later painting for Papunya Tula Artists.   

Abraham Stockman Tjungarrayi (1966-2022)  

Abraham Stockman was the son of Bill Stockman Tjapaltjarri, one of the founding the Papunya painters, and YinitinikaNampitjinpa. Educated at Papunya School and Yirara College in Alice Springs, while still a teenager Abraham worked as an illustrator at the Papunya Literature Production Centre on an Aboriginal Arts Board grant in 1986-7. He and his older sister Punata Stockman later followed in their father’s footsteps and became painters of their Dreamings. Later he worked for the National Disability Insurance Scheme providers including ITEC group on local community projects. Abraham and long-time literacy worker Priscilla Brown were married and had two daughters Cheryl and Claudette.   

Douglas Multa Tjupurrula  

Douglas Multa b.1962- was raised by his grandfather Barney Raggett Tjupurrula, who taught him about his culture. He and fellow author/illustrator Kevin Morris Tjapaltjarri (1963-d) grew up together at Haasts Bluff, then a government cattle enterprise. After finishing school at Papunya, Douglas did “a bit of everything”, including stockwork and bricklaying, building the first houses in Kintore in the 1980s. He got into writing and illustrating books while teaching at Kintore School in the mid to late ‘80s. Douglas is a senior figure in the Haasts Bluff community, leading initiatives like the Purple House and Memory Mountain.   

Charlotte Phillipus Napurrula  

Born in Haasts Bluff/Ikuntji in 1957, Charlotte is the eldest daughter of Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, a founding member of Papunya Tula Artists. Over the years painting at Papunya Tjupi, Charlotte developed her own meticulous version of his Kalipinypa Kapi Tjukurrpa, fusing the lightning of the stormfront with the tali/sandhills of her country. She also paints unique children’s stories harking back to the over 50 storybooks she wrote as a literacy worker at Papunya Literature Production Centre in the ‘80s. A fully qualified teacher and strong advocate for bilingual education, she worked for decades in the classrooms of Papunya School.  

Obed Raggett (1916-1980)  

The son of one of Hermannsburg/Ntaria’s leading evangelists, Obed early distinguished himself in the mission schoolroom. Following years of stockwork and lay preaching at Haasts Bluff, Obed and his family moved across to Papunya. For the next two decades he was a leading figure in the community’s spiritual, political and educational life. Remembered for his role in the 1971 Papunya School murals, he was also Papunya’s pre-eminent storyteller and first writer/illustrator. He mentored Papunya’s first literate generation, who went on to produce a remarkable body of Pintupi-Luritja illustrated literature. He was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1979. 

Sabrina Ferguson (Kantawarra) Nakamarra (1959-d)  

Sabrina spent her childhood in Papunya and later wrote about it for the Papunya Literature Production Centre where she worked as a literacy assistant doing transcription and translation, following a stint as the Papunya School secretary. She also wrote 25 books for the Centre, for whose ‘scary’ stories she is remembered fondly by younger members of her family. Other publications document life before and after contact at Haasts Bluff where her father Stephen Tjupurrula was born. His death when Sabrina was only 11 may help explain the theme of women’s autonomy in her writing.  

Murphy Roberts Tjupurrula (1946-d.)  

Murphy was a Pintupi man, son of WintaruTjakamarra, an early arrival in Haasts Bluff from the west. Murphy’s involvement with education began in the mid ‘70s at Yayayi, as a teacher’s aide in one of the earliest bilingual programs in the Territory. During this period, he wrote his first books documenting local incidents. He was a teacher at Haasts Bluff before moving to Papunya, where he was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1982. Murphy wrote more than a dozen books for the Centre, many recording community events and reflecting his deep knowledge of country and love of hunting.   

Karen McDonald Nangala 

Karen was born in Papunya in 1970 and grew up at Blackwater Outstation attending school in Papunya and later Yirara College Alice Springs. A skilled translator and linguist, she worked at Papunya school as an assistant teacher for many years. Karen paints her grandmother’s story, KungkaTjukurrpa at Ilpilli, about how her Napurrula ancestors found waterholes, creeks, and an abundance of food and remained there for a long time. Her artwork continues to evolve in new directions and has incorporated poems, text and images. She is a strong voice in curatorial decision making for Wangka Walytja.    

Roslyn Dixon Napurrula  

Roslyn came to Papunya as a young girl and was raised by Topsy Napaltjarri and her husband Mick WallankarriTjakamarra, one of the founders of Papunya Tula Artists. She is the granddaughter of Paddy Carroll Tjungarrayi, another important Papunya lawman and painter. She attended Papunya school and later Yirara College Alice Springs. Back in Papunya she worked for World Vision and currently works at Papunya School. Roslyn first painted with Warumpi Arts and at Warlukurlangu Artists Yuendumu before Tjupi Arts opened in Papunya. Roslyn is married to Watson Corby and has six children, five sons and a daughter. She is an enthusiastic contributor to curatorial decisions for Wangka Walytja.   

Vivien Johnson 
Vivien is a writer, teacher, researcher and curator, who has contributed over several decades to Aboriginal art scholarship and advocacy, especially Western Desert art. Her pioneering interdisciplinary research combined anthropological, sociological, philosophical and art historical perspectives.  Her monographs on Western Desert artists were foundational and her work on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights was highly recognised.  She has published 11 books, 12 major catalogues and over 100 articles in art journals and scholarly publications and curated several national touring exhibitions. Professor Johnson has been involved in the visual arts in Australia since the early ‘70s and was founding Editor-in-Chief of the Dictionary of Australian Artists Online.  

Samantha Disbray  

Samantha is a linguist, researcher, curator and Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. Working with Communities across Central Australia since 1999, much of her work focussed on Indigenous languages in education. She has published on the Northern Territory Bilingual Education Program and written articles and reference materials on languages policy, revitalisation and teaching practice. Her collaborations on arts-based language revitalisation projects have developed exhibitions, including AnkkinyiApparr, AnkkinyiMangurr with Warumungu speakers from Tennant Creek and Wangka Walytja. She convenes the Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Language Revitalisation at the University of Queensland.