Beyond Borders
Patrick Tjungurrayi
Ala. Alatuti. Oloodoodi. Patrick. Tjungurray. He is a man of many names, and they speak to many lives lived. Each handle gets held for a while in different times and places. He was a young warrior by his first name, but by each of his subsequent names he has stood just as proud. By each of those names he has fought for his rights, and the rights of his people, to live their lives their way, on their terms.
Through the prism of Patrick’s art and life, this book illuminates a unique part of the twentieth century Australian history and art history. It also tells of a health crisis face Aboriginal people across Australia and an innovative and effective response to this crisis being driven by an extraordinary Indigenous organisation, the Purple House (Western Desert Dialysis).
Patrick Tjungurrayi is revered throughout the Western Desert for his strength in Aboriginal Law, feted in the art-world for the originality and power of his paintings, and respected everywhere for his stand against the inadequate health bureaucracy of central Australia. His life illuminates the history, art history, and political history of Australia throughout the twentieth century. This is his story.
All proceeds from the sale of this book support the work of the Purple House in providing dialysis and essential support service to people in Central Australia and beyond.
Hetti Perkins is an art curator and writer, and a senior cultural advisor on numerous national and international arts projects. She worked at the AGNSW between 1989-2011 as Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. She has curated major survey exhibitions of Indigenous art, including Australia’s representation at the Venice Biennale of 1997. In 2010, she curated the project Art + Soul, which became an exhibition at the AGNSW, a book and a television documentary. She joined Bangarra Dance Theatre as an artist-in-residence in 2011 and is currently Curator.
John Carty is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Adelaide, and Head of Humanities at the South Australian Museum. His position between the two institutions focusses on connecting the collections and contemporary politics of Museums with innovative research. He is also the Humanities and Social Sciences Commissioner for the Australian National Commission to UNESCO. He has worked extensively with Aboriginal artists and custodians throughout Australia on books, exhibitions and community development programs. His core research has involved working with Aboriginal artists to bridge the divide between anthropology and art history. In recent years, John’s work – through research with the British Museum, National Museum of Australia, and now the South Australian Museum – has grown to focus on the cultural and cross-cultural histories encompassed by objects in museum collections.
Sarah Brown is the CEO of Purple House.
More books by author
