Papunya Tula Artists (PTA)

Papunya Tula Artists (PTA) is today known as a corporation which is not only owned by the Indigenous People from the Western Desert but also directed by them. These indigenous artists mostly originate from language groups such as Luritija and Pintupi. This corporation acknowledges approximatively 120 unique artists and holds 49 shareholders. The main objective of this corporation is to advocate distinctive artists, whilst offering economic expansion for the communities these artists come from, thus sustaining and increasing the traditional culture.

Papunya is located in the middle of Australia; this small town is roughly 240 kilometres west of Alice Springs. In 1960, a settlement was formally opened there, it was known to be the last recognised

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri to this day is recognised as one of the most collected and prominent Australia Aboriginal artists, he joined the PTA in 1972 and was one of their founding leaders. He vastly became one of the company’s most successful and creative artists, an advocate for art being compelling, layered and covered in the most vibrant colours and methodically rendered visual effects. In the year of 1976, himself and his brother Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri were chosen to paint large canvas’ and one in particular which is now known as ‘Warlugulong’ for a BBC documentary called Desert Dreamers. The painting itself was enormous and held complex narrative that had never been seen or done by the Papunya artists before. The fascinating glowing fire-burst in the centre of the painting represents the sacred bushfire dreaming story. The painting is named after the place where the fire began, the circles in the centre of the striking fire burst expresses the explosive nature of the fire. The charcoal grey parts display the burnt out country and white dots signify ash. This painting is only one of the many the Tjapaltjarri brothers painted for this documentary, however, it was the most monumental. The painting holds many symbolic representations of their sacred stories and the symbols within the painting are visually intricate and comprise of many repetitions and designs, fused with strong visual symmetry. During the early 1980s, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was appointed chairperson of the PTA. In 1988, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London planned a solo exhibition for Tjapaltjarri, this was his first solo exhibition and the first time an Australian Aboriginal artist had been recognised by the global art world. Over the next decade, he became the most broadly travelled indigenous artist of his era and became a representative