Anthropologist Fred Myers and art critic Terry Smith discuss six Papunya paintings displayed at a 2022 exhibition in New York, drawing on several discourses that have developed around First Nations art, notably anthropology, art history, and curating as practiced by Indigenous and non-Indigenous interpreters.

List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Eternal Recurrence of Origins
Kingsley Tjungurrai, Stars, Rain, and Lightning at Night, 1971
2. The Ceremony is the Place: The Past is the Present
Shorty Lungkarta Tjungurrayi, Classic Pintupi Water Dreaming, 1972
3. The Icy Spirit: The Structure of Punishment
Wartuma (Charlie Tarawa/Tjaruru) Tjungurrayi, The Trial, 1972
4. Inside and Outside: A Cave Allegory
Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Big Cave Dreaming with Ceremonial Objects, 1972
5. Stippling Plenitude: “The Water Man Does Not Get Wet—He Is the Rain Itself”
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa, 1972
6. Dotting and Weaving
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa (with Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri), Ngalyipi (A Small Snake), 1972
Six Paintings from Papunya: A Reflection / Stephen Gilchrist
Language and Person Names
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Fred R. Myers and Terry Smith