John Tjakamarra b. c.1935

Also known as John Kipara Tjakamarra, John Jagamara
  • Artist (Painter)
A member of one of Pintupi groups who arrived in Papunya from the desert in the early 1960s, he painted with a core group of Pintupi artists in the Papunya Tula company's earliest days. His work is held in major public and private collections in Australia and overseas.

Born in the ’30s his country was in the Kulkurta area towards Sandy Blight Junction in WA. His family were one of the first Pintupi groups to attempt the long walk into Papunya in the early ’60s, and were soon joined there by others. When painting started at Papunya in 1971, John Tjakamarra was working as a farm labourer with Yala Yala Gibbs and Freddy West , who both have associations with the same country, and he continued working with this Pintupi group when the Papunya Tula painting company was formed. He usually painted Tingari stories around Kulkurta and Nimangka, and towards the end of his life settled in Tjukurla to be closer to these lands.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien Note: Primary biographer.
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011