Our Values

Constitution

The corporation is governed by the following aims.

• To encourage and support Aboriginal art and craft in the community
• To foster Aboriginal traditional culture among youth
• To develop partnerships with universities and schools
• To work for the relief of poverty and to advance living conditions within the community
• To work towards providing community resources, including training and employment opportunities to members of the community

To read the full constitution, please click here.

The art centre has an ‘open door’, inclusive policy. Any artist, or aspiring artist over school age living in the community or outstations is welcome to participate.

Working with Young People:

From the very beginning, the artists strongly indicated that passing on culture to young people was the primary motivation for the establishment of Papunya Tjupi Art Centre. The co-founder and member, Long Jack Phillipus and elder/artist, Michael Jagamara Nelson AO, expressed a deep-held belief that young people need to learn the stories and the painting skills from the older artists.

Papunya is lucky in having a wealth of internationally renowned senior artists involved in the beginnings of the Central Desert art movement. The art centre is a conduit for their expertise and experience to be passed onto the next generation who make up the current group of over 100 artists, many of whom have never painted before.

“We really want to teach our young people to paint too, and to teach our traditional culture through painting. This is very, very important to us.” Michael Nelson AO, Artist, Founder Papunya Tjupi Art Centre, 2007.

Ethical buying of Aboriginal Art:

Buying from accredited art centres ensures that the artist is well represented and remunerated for their work. Prior to the establishment of Papunya Tjupi, numerous private dealers had established relationships with the otherwise unrepresented artists. Sometimes these relationships were exploitative. To be sure that all proceeds from sales go directly back to the artists and into further community projects, buy only through Papunya Tjupi and other reputable Art Centres.

We are committed to accurately documenting and cataloguing all artworks to ensure protection of the artists’ intellectual property rights. All artworks have a corresponding certificate of authenticity that explains the cultural significance of the work and includes a unique catalogue number, as well as a biography of the artist.

Commitment to transparent operations:

Papunya Tjupi is a separately incorporated Aboriginal owned corporation. We are committed to good governance, accountability and transparent operations.

The Management Committee, freely elected each year by the artists, meets at least four times a year. The Committee has representatives from each area of Papunya (North, East, South and West), and its outstations (Blackwater, 3 Mile and 5 Mile), as was decided by the community.

General artists meetings are held as and when they are needed to keep all members informed of important developments. Governance Training, explaining how the art industry works and how the art centre operates, is available to all artists to allow them meaningful say in the centre’s operation.

Managers are appointed via an open application system. No monies received through sales or donations go towards staff remuneration, which is all funded by government grants.

The Centre gives quarterly financial reports and is subject to annual audits for receiving government funds.