Matt Rumbelow

The Patjarr Visitor Centre 2005

Patjarr is a small Aboriginal community, located near the Clutterbuck Hills between Lake Cobb and Lake Newell, 243 kilometres by road north west of Warburton in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.

Patjarr is 240 kilometres northwest of Warburton. The Pintupi-speaking members were one of the last groups of Aboriginal people in Australia to be contacted by non-Aboriginals. 

Patjarr or Karilywara is located in the Clutterbuck Hills between Lake Cobb and Lake Newell, 240km north west of Warburton. The residents are Pintupi speaking people.

In 1965 geologists working for Union Oil Development Corporation recorded many sightings of Aborigines still living a traditional lifestyle around the Clutterbuck Hills. In 1968 the ethnographic film-maker Ian Dunlop of Film Australia together with the anthropologist Robert Tonkinson documented the traditional subsistence activities of the Pintupi people living in the Clutterbuck Hills.

In 1979, a large group of Pintupi from Warburton camped at Tika Tika rockholes, just south of Patjarr, for two months. During this time, they constructed a 90-kilometre hand-cut road from the Gunbarrel Highway to their traditional water sources, marking the beginning of their gradual return to their homelands.

However, while they were away, a significant portion of their traditional land had been designated as the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve, without their knowledge or consent. This designation prohibited traditional hunting, gathering, and the establishment of living areas. In 1993, the Ngaanyatjarra Council, on behalf of the Pintupi, successfully lodged a submission for an excision, allowing for a permanent living area within the Nature Reserve. The community was subsequently returned to its traditional owners under lease from the Aboriginal Lands Trust.

By 1993, a large group was living at the outstation without modern infrastructure, such as a mechanised water supply, permanent buildings, or electricity. Today, Patjarr has houses, a permanent water supply, a store, and clinic facilities. In 1995, Patjarr became an incorporated community and a member of the Ngaanyatjarra Land Council.

The Pintupi people who now live at Patjarr were one of the last groups of Aboriginal people in Australia to be contacted by non-Aboriginals. Native Patrol Officers were bringing people into Warburton Mission from this area as late as the early 70s. At this time, many Warburton residents had become more "sophisticated" in European ways through their contact with the mission and the Pintupi were often ridiculed for their "bush" manners and customs. Feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome, many left to live in fringe camps on the edge of gold mining towns like Wiluna.

in 1999, the University of South Australia and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) were invited to collaborate in various design projects in and around the Aboriginal community of Warburton, WA. This was the first engagement that the Design Construct program had with Indigenous communities, which has since led to many more successful projects. 

This inaugural project was the design and construction of a visitor’s centre and gallery for the Patjarr Aboriginal Community (pronounced Pat-arr) that would house artwork and artefacts of the community. Patjarr is one of Australia's most remote Aboriginal communities at over 2500km from Adelaide, requiring the project team to develop specialised methods of prefabrication, transportation and construction to cater for the long distances, extremely rough roads and the arid desert environment.

In 2002, the Patjarr Community Visitor’s Centre project was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Community Service by the University of South Australia for services rendered to the Patjarr Aboriginal Community. The project was completed in 2003. 

In 2004, the Patjarr Aboriginal Community Visitor’s Centre was awarded the Colorbond Steel Award by the Australian Institute of Architects. 

https://youtu.be/BcKggSyl6-k