Wangka Wakaṉutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre

Explore the decades-long, remarkable efforts of the Papunya community to record language and culture and keep it alive.

Papunya is a remote Aboriginal community in the Western Desert region of the Northern Territory, and the birthplace of the internationally known Western Desert art movement.

Between 1979 and 1990, the Papunya Literature Production Centre (PLPC) produced hundreds of Pintupi-Luritja bilingual readers guided by the community’s Elders, among them pioneers of the Western Desert Art movement.

The readers – illustrated books – were produced as literacy tools for local schoolchildren and tell stories of first contact, Dreamings, community life, plants, animals and more. Some are funny and wildly creative. Others are moving, dramatic and extraordinary.

‘Wangka Wakaṉutja’ is Pintupi-Luritja for ‘the story has been told’.

In the 10-year period the PLPC was operating, we received more than 350 readers under legal deposit provisions where they have remained in safekeeping.

The exhibition, Wangka Wakaṉutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre, brings the readers to life and builds on a recent exhibition on show at the Library and Archives NT in Darwin. It features stories, drawings, photographs, manuscripts, ephemera and oral histories from the collections of the Papunya community, Papunya School, National Library of Australia, Australian National University, and other private collections.

The exhibition is curated by Karen McDonald, Roslyn Dixon, Kulata Dennis Nelson, Priscilla Brown, Charlotte Phillipus, Vivien Johnson, Samantha Disbray, Dr Guy Hansen, Allister Mills and Loris Gulliver.

A landmark publication from NLA Publishing, also titled Wangka Wakaṉutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre, will be released simultaneously with the exhibition opening. It shares the overarching story of this important Aboriginal literary movement, powered by collective creativity and cultural pride and the remarkable story of the books they made, from their creation and use to their loss and rediscovery. The book includes fully illustrated recreations of several Papunya readers in Pintupi-Luritja language.

Scroll down to learn more about the Pintupi-Luritja language, the book, and to head to Trove to read a selection of the Papunya readers online.

These stories are a small selection of hundreds created by Papunya authors and illustrators at the Papunya Literature Production Centre. They belong to the authors, their families, and the community of Papunya. 

Exhibition highlights

An illustration of four children walking towards a covered area where there are two groups of children and being taught by two teachers. There are hills in the background and several birds flying in the sky.

Thomas Stevens, Kantina, Kuula, Ngurra, 1985, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3285322250

A man and a child sit at a desk in a classroom reading a book.

Murphy Roberts reading with children as part of the school’s ‘lap reading’ program, 1986, courtesy of the Papunya Literature Production Centre Archive

The cover of a book featuring an illustration of a large snake coming out of the ground, uprooting trees, and moving up into the air. A person stands on a hill in the foreground.

Charlotte Phillipus, Thomas Stevens and Papunya Literature Production Centre, Yara waṉampitjarra, 1984, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3286274841

Four people play AFL football on a field. There are hills in the background.

Football practice on the Theo Brown Oval, Papunya Hills behind, 1987, courtesy of the Papunya Literature Production Centre Archive

The cover of a book featuring an illustration of a kangaroo on a rocky hillside.

Kulata Dennis Nelson and Papunya Literature Production Centre, Ngaatja nyaalytjingka?, 1988, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3285204701

Four people stand in front of a wall in this photo. There is artwork, a chalkboard and papers attached to the wall behind them.

George Rrurrambu (second from right) with his brother Bruce Rrurrambu Burarrwanga and cousins Billy Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (left) and David Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (second from left) at Papunya, 1986, courtesy of the Papunya Literature Production Centre Archive