ABSTRACT
The artists represented by Papunya Tula are heirs to one of the most localised of existences still permitted in the world. These artists are intimately connected to their traditional land estates through a set of beliefs in the sacredness of places and the necessity of celebrating that sacredness through ceremonial acts. The great majority of Western Desert paintings represent the extent of the landscape and its sacred elements – biota and geographic features for which the painters are responsible as traditional owners. In 1971, when Australians knew little about Aboriginal people, and few people from the desert had ventured to the cities, art teacher Geoffrey Bardon ‘recognised in the old men’s wall paintings something eminently worth encouraging’. The way that Aboriginal people perceive landscapes is rather like the way that someone with a reasonable astronomical knowledge in western culture perceives the night sky resplendent with shining stars.
