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Kumantje Jagamara AM (born around 1946 – died November 2020) was a very important Aboriginal Australian painter. He was one of the main artists who helped create the Western Desert art movement. This was an early and very important style of contemporary Indigenous Australian art. He was also known by other names like Kumantje Nelson Jagamara and Michael Nelson Tjakamarra.

Early Life and Learning About Art

Kumantje Jagamara, the name his family preferred, was born around 1946. His birthplace was Pikilyi, also known as Vaughan Springs, in the Northern Territory. This place is about 105 kilometers (65 miles) west of Yuendumu. Both of his parents were Walpiri people. His father was a respected "Medicine Man" in the Yuendumu community.

Kumantje lived a traditional life when he was young. His grandfather taught him how to paint on sand, bodies, and shields. He first saw white people at Mount Doreen Station and remembered hiding because he was scared. Later, his parents took him to Yuendumu. There, he went to a mission school to get a European education.

His Art Career

After finishing school and going through a special initiation ceremony, Kumantje worked different jobs. He shot pigs, drove trucks, and moved cattle. He also spent some time in the Australian Army. In 1976, after his father passed away, he moved to Papunya. There, he married Marjorie Napaltjarri.

He worked in the government store and watched many older artists at Papunya Tula paint for years. His uncle, Jack Tjurpurrula, also taught him. Kumantje started painting regularly in 1983. That same year, he was asked to join Papunya Artists. He quickly became one of their most famous members.

Jagamara's paintings often showed stories from his "Dreamings." These included Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Flying Ant, and Yam Dreamings. These stories were connected to the area around Pikilyi, his birthplace.

The Parliament House Mosaic

In 1983, Kumantje Jagamara was asked to create a large mosaic for the new Parliament House in Canberra. This mosaic, called Possum and Wallaby Dreaming, is based on one of his paintings. It shows a large group of people gathering. These people are from the kangaroo, wallaby, and goanna ancestors. They are meeting to talk and perform ceremonial obligations.

The mosaic uses ideas from the sand-painting traditions of the Warlpiri people. It has many layers of meaning that only Warlpiri elders fully understand. Three stonemasons worked for 18 months to two years to cut 90,000 granite pieces by hand. These pieces were used to create the 196 square meter (2,110 sq ft) artwork.

Working with Other Artists

In 1985, Kumantje painted "Five Stories 1984." In the mid-1980s, he started working with artists from different cultures, like Tim Johnson. He began to use different styles and colors than the usual Papunya art.

From 1996, Jagamara worked closely with Michael Eather, an art dealer from Brisbane. He also started working with Brisbane’s Campfire Group. He even worked with Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi at the second Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at QAGOMA.

In 2012, he was part of a group of five people chosen by the NT Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority. Their job was to decide which early Papunya artworks, held by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), should be shown to the public.

Collaborating with Imants Tillers

In 1985, another artist named Imants Tillers used Jagamara's "Five Stories" in one of his own paintings. This led to a big discussion about "cultural appropriation." This means using ideas or images from another culture without proper understanding or permission.

However, in 2001, Kumantje Jagamara and Imants Tillers became friends. They worked together on many paintings, creating 24 artworks between 2001 and 2018. One of these, "Metafisica Australe" (2017), is now at QAGOMA in Brisbane. This painting includes parts of "Five Stories." It tells the story of their friendship and the discussions about artists using ideas from Indigenous art. The artwork has 36 canvas boards painted by Jagamara in the center, surrounded by another 36 boards.

His Unique Painting Style

Kumantje Jagamara's early paintings used a very careful dot-painting style, typical of Papunya art. But later, he made his style simpler. By 2000, his art was described as "expressionistic" and more "calligraphic" and flowing.

Throughout his life and in his art, Jagamara stayed true to his "jukurrpa." This refers to the Warlpiri people's deep cultural knowledge system and laws. It includes a special connection to certain places. Pikilyi, his birthplace, is an important sacred site for ceremonies. It is where several different Dreamings meet. These Dreamings, like Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Flying Ant, and Yam, are often shown in his artwork.

Awards and Recognition

Kumantje Jagamara won the very first National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in September 1984. This award is now known as the Telstra Award. He won it with his painting called "Three Ceremonies."

In 1987, a long painting by Jagamara, measuring 8.2 meters (27 feet), was placed in the main entrance of the Sydney Opera House.

He met Queen Elizabeth II in 1988. This was at the opening of the New Parliament House. He was introduced as the artist who designed the large 196 square meter (2,110 sq ft) mosaic at the front of the building.

His 1985 painting "Five Stories 1984" was one of the most copied Australian artworks in the 1980s. It was shown at the 1986 Biennale of Sydney. It was also part of the Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia exhibition from the South Australian Museum. This exhibition traveled to the Asia Society Galleries in New York in 1988 and other places in the US. His painting was even on the cover of the exhibition book. Jagamara traveled to New York City with Billy Stockman Japaltjarri for the opening. This helped him become known to people all over the world. In 2016, this painting sold for a very high price, £401,000 (about AUD$687,877 at the time), at Sotheby's in London. This was the highest price ever paid for a painting by a living Aboriginal artist at that time.

In 1989, he had his first show where only his art was displayed. This was in Melbourne at the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi. He also took part in the BMW Art Car Project. For this, he hand-painted a M3 race car.

Jagamara was given the title of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1993. This was to honor his great contributions to art.

In 1994, he received a special Fellowship from the Australia Council's Visual Arts Board.

He was chosen to be the president of the Papunya Community Council in the 1990s, and again from 2002 to 2004.

In 2006, his painting "Big Rain" won the Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize. This painting was done in an Expressionist style.

From September 2016, a new Australian five-dollar note was released. It features Jagamara's mosaic from Parliament House.

Later Life and What He Left Behind

Kumantje Jagamara passed away in November 2020. Hundreds of people attended his funeral in Alice Springs on March 14, 2021. His long-time friend Vivien Johnson was there, and a letter from the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, was read.

Jagamara was one of the most important artists in the Western Desert style of painting. This style is still a very significant part of contemporary Indigenous Australian art today.

His amazing artwork lives on at the Sydney Opera House, at Parliament House (which was also photographed and saved digitally in 2019), and on the five-dollar banknote (which was updated with new signatures in 2019).

Exhibitions

Kumantje Jagamara showed his work in many exhibitions, including several where only his art was displayed. These include:

Collections

His artworks are held in many important collections, such as:

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