ABORIGINAL DESERT ART  GALLERY

TIMMI PAYUNKA TJAPANGARDI

Born c.1942 just west of Central Lake Mackay. The family came eastwards to the Haasts Bluff area in search of rations of flour and tea when Timmy was a child. Later, the family travelled back to Pintupi territory.

Contacted in 1962 whilst camped at Yarrana Rockhole due west of Kintore with his wife and young child, Timmy was among the first group of Pintupi to be brought into the newly established settlement of Papunya. Part of the original group of painters at Papunya in 1971, he moved to Kintore when it was established in 1981 and further west to Kiwirrkura - where he now resides

He is a key figure for the important claypan site of Parrayingi, where in pre contact times many people gathered in the large depressions formed by the claypan hollows for ceremonies after good rains. Also the Lake Hazlett area further to the north. He paints Dancing Women, Dingo, Snake and Water Dreaming stories from this region.

A key ritual figure since the late 70's, he was in the forefront of moves to establish the settlement at Kiwirrkura. His work featured in the 'Dreamings' exhibition which toured the USA in 1988-9, Nangara 1995

This painting by Timmy Payungka Tjapangati depicts the Tingarri Cycle story associated with the site near Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory runs through Lake Mackay.

TINGARRI

Two Tingarri men left early in the morning with their boomerangs, spears and woomeras to hunt kangaroos, approaching Wilkinkarra they saw kangaroo tracks in the desert sand leading towards the lake. At the shores of the lake the spinifex bushes where tall and the Tingarri men could not see the kangaroo, they lit a fire in the spinifex and it spread along the shores of the lake, flushing out the kangaroos. After a successful hunt and a rest, they travelled on to Marputta, then to Parayilypil.

Generally, the Tingarri are a group of mythical characters of the Dreaming who travelled over vast stretches of the country, performing rituals and creating and shaping particular sites. The Tingarri Men were usually followed by Tingarri Women and accompanied by novices. Their travels and adventures are enshrined in a number of song cycles. These mythologies form part of the teachings of the post-initiatory youths today as well as providing explanations for contemporary customs. Since events associated with the Tingarri Cycle are of a secret nature no further detail was given.