Tilau Nangala was born c. 1933 at Haasts Bluff of Ngaliya/Warlpiri parents. Tilau never a ended school – during her childhood the family s ll lived in the bush, supplemen ng their diet of bush tucker with supplies collected from Haasts Bluff ra on depot. When the family came across from Haasts Bluff to Papunya in the first days of the se lement, Tilau was already married, with two young daughters. Two more daughters and a son were born in Papunya. Ever since, Tilau has lived at Papunya, where she worked in the Papunya Hospital, in the old Papunya communal kitchen and more recently in the Papunya School, passing on her love of dancing to the children. Tilau is a senior law woman. Her deeply felt knowledge of country and ceremony empowers her bold lyrical and expressive pain ngs depic ng the topography of hills and creeks that create the feeling of flowing water. The great Water Dreaming site of Mikantji she inherited from her father is nearly always her subject. She says her aun e taught her culture and stories but she developed her own ideas on how to paint it. She paints “so the children can watch me paint and learn, so I can pass on my Dreaming and stories to my grandchildren. Papunya is my mother’s brother’s country.” In the past, Tilau was a prodigious carver of coolamons and clap s cks and maker of inini seed necklaces, but these days she mainly paints – and has also produced prints with Cicada Press College of Fine Arts UNSW.
Group Exhibitions
2016 Papunya Tjupi Arts : Incinerator Art Space, Honey Ant Gallery, Sydney
2015 Streets of Papunya: The Reinvention of Papunya Painting : UNSW Galleries
2015 Desert Mob : Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
2015 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair : Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin
2015 Kungka Tjupi: New work from the women of Papunya Tjupi : Outstation Gallery, Darwin 2015 Desert Dreaming : Art Images Gallery, Adelaide
2015 New Narratives: Papunya Tjupi Prints with Cicada Press 2006-2014 : Kluge-Ruhe Museum – UVa Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
2014 Desert Mob : Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
2014 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair : Darwin Convention Centre
2014 Kungka Tjutaku Wititjanku: Women Keeping Culture Strong : Mossenson Galleries 2014 Garden of Eden : Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs
2014 Ngurra Nganampa (Community) : Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane
2013 Papunya Tjupi: New Work : Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
2013 Solidarity for Love: G’day from Aussie Minjung : Monkey-Wrenching Art Center, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 2013 Desert Mob : Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
2013 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair : Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin
2013 Papunya Tjupi : Chapman Gallery Canberra
2013 Seoul Korean Art Fair : Seoul, Korea
2013 Kapingka punganynka Tjupi tjutarringanyi : Marshall Arts, Adelaide
2013 ArtStage Singapore : ArtStage Singapore, Mossenson Galleries
2012 Papunya Tjupi Artists : IDAIA and Galerie Karin Carton, Versailes, Paris, France 2012 Desert Mob : Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
2012 Kapi Tjukurrpa – Water Dreaming : Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne
2012 The Keating Speech : Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
2012 Desert Rythmn – Artists of Papunya Tjupi : Mosenson Galleries, Melbourne
2012 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair : Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin
2011 Papunya Tjupi: Generations : Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne
2011 UNSW International Showcase : UNSW, Kensington, Sydney
2011 Papunya Tjupi Arts : ARTKelch, Germany
2011 Papunya Tjupi Arts : ARTKelch, Germany
2011 Desert Mob : Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
2011 The International Art on Paper Exhibition : College of Fine Arts, University of NSW 2010 Desert Stories: Papunya Tjupi : Gecko Gallery, Broome
2010 Papunya Power : Art Mob Gallery, Hobart
2010 Tjukurrpa: Papunya Tjupi Arts : Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne
2009 Papunya Tjupi: A New Generation : Gecko Gallery, Broome
2009 The Artists of Papunya Tjupi : Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne
2008 Silk + Sand : Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Paddington
2008 Were talking about Papunya again : Art Mob, Hobart
2008 Papunya Tjupi: A new beginning : Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Paddington