Malliera Ceremonies

Charlie Egalie Tjapaltjarri was born at Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs), north-east of Papunya. He began painting in the early 1970s during the early period of the Papunya Tula art movement. His works depict women’s and men’s ceremonial Dreamings, including Budgerigar, Wallaby and Sugar Ant stories. Today, his paintings are held in major museum collections across Australia.

Malliera ceremonies are male initiation rites connected to the Tingari Dreamings of the Western Desert. Many visual elements seen in Western Desert painting originate in the body paint designs used during these ceremonies.