Design and Art Australia Online

Wenten Rubuntja grew up at Telegraph Station, Alice Springs and worked as a timber cutter and drover at stations across Central Australia, including Hamilton Downs in his grandfather’s country Ntyerlpe, Undoolya Station, Maryvale and Napperby. Albert Namatjira was his father’s cousin and their fathers had shared the country around Palm Valley known as Ilyape, a Honey Ant Dreaming site. Namatjira called himself Wenten’s uncle, and taught him to paint in response to the boy’s interest. Chairman of the Central Land Council through the ’80s, Wenten was a leader of the Arrente community. One of his Western Desert style paintings hangs in the Catholic Church in Alice Springs, done for the Pope’s special mass for Aboriginal Christians. He also designed the stained glass windows of the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs. When his community responsibilities permitted, Wenton painted both Hermannsburg landscapes and paintings using traditional designs.

Writers:

Johnson, Vivien Note: primary biographer

Date written:

1994

Last updated:

2011