The 1980s were a period when the movement for the resettlement of tribal homelands was gaining momentum. The emphasis of restoration of ceremonial links to country after decades of dislocation was for tribesmen, women and especially the older members of these ommunities of fundamental importance to the cultural survival of Western Desert Society. The strongest homelands movement was at Papunya Tula.
Officially opened in 1961, Papunya was the last of the government settlements set up across Central Australia after World War II under the policy of centralisation of desert dwellers. It gathered together major groupings of seven different tribes. Among these were the Pintupi people, understood to be the last still pursuing their traditional lifestyle in the remote area across the Western Australian border. They were brought in by the Northern Territory Welfare Branch patrols during the mid 1960s. By the early 1970s, there were around 1500 people at Papunya. This proved to be a more explosive social mix than at most of the older settlements, where one language group tended to dominate.

With the power of their direct continuity of connection with the country, the Pintupi peoples arrival may have precipitated the development of the painting movement at Papunya. It was that the Pintupi exodus back to their own country that spearheaded the Western Desert homelands movement. In 1981 the Pintupi people established Kintore in the heart of Pintupi country just inside the Western Australian boarder. By 1985 they had moved another 250kms further west across the Western Australian boarder to Kiwirrkura.

The paintings during their decade of dislocation had served as a way of passing on their Dreamings to the next generation while educating the rest of the world in the ancient traditions of the Western Desert peoples. With the resettlement of country and reestablishment
of the ceremonial links which the paintings depicted, these roles gave way to a more professional approach to making art. A majority of current Papunya painters currently live far to the west of the original settlement at Kintore, Kiwirrura and places beyond. Income derived from paintings are pivotal for these remote communities to sustain their traditional lifestyles.

The exodus of the Pintupi initiated many other departures. Some of the Warlpiri artists moved to the new township at Mt Leibig in the direction of Warlpiri country, where they continued to paint for the Papunya Tula artists and others moved to outstations in their heritage countries and painted intermittently when materials were available. About twenty artists are still based in Papunya itself, amongst them a handful of the original ‘painting men’ and some of the Papunya Tula best known younger artists.

During the 1970s, Papunya fortunes had been too uncertain to allow the encouragement of new artists. Everyone was preoccupied with the survival of the painting endeavor as a cultural initiative of the older ceremonially knowledgeable men. As the decade progressed, the omen’s increasing participation as assistants on the dotted backgrounds of the men’s canvases reflected the progressively more sophisticated orientation of the original group of artists towards their painting enterprise. Until the 1980s, the only artists actually on the company books were men. The first women at Papunya to begin painting in their own right were these wives and daughters, who already were proficient in
contemporary Western Desert style. By receiving recognition and purchases from major public galleries, they were ensured recognition as independent producers. During the 1980s, the company was able to enlarge its operations to include regular trips to Kintore
and the Pintupi communities further west and south.

The second generation of Papunya Tula artists has painted sophisticated canvases, producing stylistic modifications within the mature Papunya style. The reputation of the Papunya artists and the record of major overseas exhibitions involving Papunya Tula artists continues to grow.