The Master From Marnpi

Namarari is a worthy choice as a biographical subject. He won the National Aboriginal Art Award (1991) and the Alice Prize (1994, co-winner), and was the inaugural recipient of the Commonwealth’s prestigious Red Ochre Award (1994) – the only artist to receive all three awards. Yet there is no published biography of Namarari, only sketches, and no fulsome account of his innovative art practice or outstanding career.

This story provides insights into the colonisation of Central Australia and the tenacity of the Pintupi people. Namarari’s biography illuminates the circumstances of desert living and remote settlements for metropolitan readers, and offers some background for understanding contemporary communities and the link between remote artists and the marketplace.