Ronnie Tjampitjinpa

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was born about 1943 around Muyinnga, about 100km west of the Kintore Ranges across the WA border. Ronnie’s family travelled extensively across the Pintupi territory, moving throughout this region and also in the area around Lake Mackay in the Northern Territory and living the traditional ways which his people have lived for over 40,000 years. He was initiated into Aboriginal law at Yumari in the early 1950’s, near his birthplace. Ronnie and his younger brother, Smithy Zimran, originally came in from the bush at Yuendumu, and later joined relatives living in Papunya, where Ronnie worked as a labourer, assisting with the fencing of the aerodrome. It was during this time than Ronnie began to paint – the early years of the painting movement. Over the years, moving between Papunya, Yuendumu and Mt Doreen station, Ronnie talked to many people about returning to traditional lands, a move which was made possible with the establishment of Kintore in 1981. By being more in touch with his traditional lands and the Dreaming, Ronnie soon emerged as one of the Papunya Tula’s major artists. His work reflects his direct ties with his culture, retaining a purity that many other Aboriginal artists have not achieved. Ronnie’s work follows the strict Pintupi style of strong circles joined together by connecting lines relating to the people and the land and the Dreamtime. His work has a simplicity that makes it appealing yet mysterious as the uninitiated try to understand what he is painting. By painting Dreamtime he is helping to resurrect the Aboriginal culture as a whole and allow outsiders to learn about one of the oldest cultures in the world. This work is important to the spirituality of this land, bridging the gap between European life and Aboriginal life, which is important in exposing and healing the gap. In 1988 he won the Alice Springs Art Prize. In 1989 he had his first solo exhibition at the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, travelling to Melbourne for the exhibition and was included in ‘Australian Perspecta 1993’ at the Art Gallery of NSW. In the 1990’s Ronnie was Chairman of the Kintore Outstation Council, where he resided on his out-station at Redbank (Ininti) with his younger brother, Kenny Williams.

Ronnie passed away in Alice Springs on 20 June 2023.