BORN: c 1969
LANGUAGE GROUP: PINTUPI
REGION: KIWIIKURRA- WESTERN AUSTRALIA
View Walala’s artwork here
Walala was born in the region of Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) in the Western Desert in c 1969.
In 1984, he made International headlines, when Walala and several other Pintupi people made first contact with present-day Australian society.
They were famously called the ‘Lost Tribe’. They moved to Kiwirrkurra, a remote community in the Gibson Desert. Prior to this, Walala and his relatives lived a traditional nomadic life, surviving off the land.
In 1997, encouraged by his brother, Warlimpirrnga (a very well known artist) he began to paint in a minimalist style reminiscent of engravings on weapons, sand paintings, and ritual body painting.
Walala incorporates many Dreaming styles in his painting which include: Wilinkurra, Maruwa, Tarrku, Njami and Yarrawangu.
These styles represent important rock holes, sand hills, landforms, water soakage’s and ceremonial sites found throughout the Gibson Desert.
In his art, he depicts the Tingari Cycle, a series of sacred and secret mythological ceremonies describing the epic journeys of Ancestors in the Tjukurpa (Dreamtime). A series of sculptures were made as replicas of his paintings.