The Tjapaltjarri brothers (Thomas 1964, Walala 1960 &

Warlimpittinga 1958)were hailed as ‘the Last nomads’ in

the international press when they and six of their

relatives left their nomadic life in October 1984 and made

contact with their Pintupi relatives at Kiwirrkurra for the

first time in over twenty years. 

This was to be their first contact with the Western world. Until this time, the brothers had lived a traditional life unchanged from the

way their ancestors had lived for thousands of years.

The three brothers produce works that are brilliantly bold, minimal and abstract in design yet at the same time remaining traditional. They depict the Tingari Cycle, the collective of stories recounting their mythological ancestors and the sacred sites surrounding their homeland in the Western Desert.