Joseph Williams Jungurayi

Joseph Williams Jungurayi is a founding member of the Tennant Creek Brio. He is a multimedia artist, carver, writer, poet and emerging cultural leader of the Warumungu community. Williams began his carving as a teenager during the mid 1990s, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Nat Jupurula Williams and being taught by his second grandfather Walter Pula Nelson. “They made them the hard way”, says Williams, with an axe and wood rasp, whereas Williams now utilises a range of modern tools on mostly hardwood to create various reinvented traditional objects including spears, shields, and boomerangs. His work includes paintings and a contemporary perpetuation of traditional objects including kayin (boomerangs), wartikirri (number 7 boomerang), clapping sticks and purnu (coolamons) fashioned from hardwood. He has recently begun experimenting with figurative realism, drawing inspiration from his Warumungu and Croatian heritage. Amongst other forays he co-directed (with Peter Pecotić) the film Countryman (2021,) broaching his Croatian heritage and opened various exhibitions and launches with his singing and poetry performances.

Currently working for Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre he is also on the board of Desart, the peak arts body for Central Australian Aboriginal Arts and Crafts centres. Joseph believes in the value and success of the Brio as a role model for the younger generation. One of the last 20 or so remaining Warumungu speakers in Tennant Creek, he has worked as a translator (and natural spokesperson) for numerous publications and documents relating to the Brio and is a director for Papulu Appar-Kari Language and Cultural Centre.

Williams’ work has most recently been exhibited at Melbourne Art Fair and 8 Hele Gallery in 2024, as well as his first solo show at Coconut Studios (Darwin) 2023. As a member of the Tennant Creek Brio his work has also been exhibited in group shows, including: ACCA (2024), Biennale of Sydney (2020), Cassandra Bird Gallery (2024), Niagra Galleries (2023), cbOne (2022), RAFT Artspace (2023 & 2021), Modern Times Melbourne Design Week (2022), Croatia House (2020), Vincent Lingiari Art Award (2021).