Pulpurru Davies facts for kids

Pulpurru Davies was born in the early 1940s. She is an amazing Aboriginal artist from central Australia. For most of her early life, she lived a nomadic life in the desert. This means her family moved around a lot. Later, in the late 1960s, her family settled in a place called Warburton. Her life in the Australian bush was even shown in a documentary film called People of the Australian Western Desert (made in 1966). Pulpurru Davies is now known as one of the first and most successful Ngaanyatjarra artists.

Pulpurru's Early Life

Pulpurru was born around the early 1940s. Her birthplace was near Yankaltjunku. This is a rockhole (a natural pool of water in rock) in the northeast Gibson Desert. Her family belongs to the Ngaanyatjarra people. For them, Yankaltjunku is a very special and sacred place.

Pulpurru grew up living a traditional, nomadic way of life. She lived in the desert with her family. They moved from one waterhole to another in their traditional country. They lived this way until the 1960s. By then, they were one of the last groups of nomadic people in Australia.

Life in the Desert and a Film

By the mid-1960s, Pulpurru's family was camped at Patjarr. At that time, Patjarr was just a rockhole. They had to stay in one place because of a long drought. Patjarr usually had a good supply of water.

While they were living there, an English anthropologist named Ian Dunlop came. An anthropologist studies human societies and cultures. He filmed Pulpurru's family doing their daily routines. This film later became a documentary called People of the Australian Western Desert (1966). It was made by the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit. Pulpurru was an adult when this happened.

We went and lived there at Patjarr rock hole when there was no water. We lived there for a long time. After a long time we saw a white man who came [...] We used to get up in the morning and put our carrying dish on our heads and walk off. He used to film us from behind. That white man filmed us as we gathered fruits, grains, and berries. That other lady and I and the children used to collect food and he used to film us. We would dig for small game, dig the animals from the burrow, kill them, pick them up and walk off. That man making them movie stayed here a long time and later on he went back home.

Moving to Warburton

Like many other Ngaanyatjarra groups, Pulpurru and her family moved out of the desert. They settled at Warburton. People from the government helped them move there in the late 1960s.

At Warburton, Pulpurru Davies worked in several jobs around homes. It was at Warburton that she started working with arts and crafts. She joined the Warburton Arts Project. There, with other women, she learned to paint using modern Western styles. She also learned how to make designs with glass.

In the early 1990s, a road was built to Patjarr. Davies and her family returned to Patjarr to create a permanent community there. This community is called Karilywara. This is where Pulpurru Davies lives and paints today. She creates her art for Kayili Artists, which is a group of artists from the community.

Pulpurru's Art Work

Pulpurru Davies paints stories and events from her country. She also paints about the Dreaming legends connected to these places. Some places she often shows in her paintings are:

• Yankaltjunku (where she was born)
• Kiwarr (where her family used to dig for water)
• Mirra Mirra (where one of her sons was born)

She uses different materials for her art. She works with paints, tjanpi (which is grass weaving), and punu (wood carving).

Art Exhibitions and Awards

Davies' art has been shown in exhibitions all over Australia since 1990. Her work was first shown outside Australia in 1998. This was part of a group exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She also had art in a big group exhibition in China in 2011. This exhibition was called Tu Di – Shen Ti (which means Our Land – Our Body).

In 2007, one of her paintings was chosen as a finalist for a big art prize. This prize is called the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA). Her painting was named Kiwarr. Later, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory bought this painting for their NATSIAA collection.

Other works by Pulpurru Davies are kept in important art places. These include:

• The National Gallery of Victoria
• The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
• The National Museum of Australia
• The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia in the USA

Some of her paintings are also displayed in the State Parliament building of Western Australia. You can also find her art in some major private art galleries in Germany and the United States.