Biography

b. 10 October 1936–d. 5 December 2010
Lived
Aurukun, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
Languages
Wik-Waya/Chaa-Ngkoth (Mother), Wik-Mungkan (Father)
Clans
Winchanam (Mother and Father)
Homelands
Morton (Mother), Archer River (Father)
Totems
Emu (Mother), Walkan-aw [a sacred site in the Flying-fox Story], Kalben [a Bonefish Story Place](Father)

Solo Exhibition

2008
Walkan-aw and Kalben, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010
Aurukun Artists: Ach-umpan (It looks nice), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
Before Time Today: Reinventing Tradition in Aurukun Aboriginal Art, The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery/GoMA, Brisbane
2009
Breaking Boundaries: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art from the Collection, Queensland Art Gallery/GoMA, Brisbane
Aurukun Artists: Yuk Wiy Min (Wood and Other Things), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2008
New: Selected recent acquisitions 2007–2008, The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
Aurukun Artists: Wiy min yumpan ngamp (We made all this), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2007–09
Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaid; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Queensland Art Gallery/GoMA, Brisbane; Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum, Washington, D.C., USA
Sand : Savannah : Salt, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Puulway—Wik and Kugu Totems: Contemporary Australian Sculpture from Aurukun, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2006
Carved from the Cape: Indigenous sculpture from the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia, Australian Art Resources, Melbourne
New Directions from Aurukun, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2005
Aurukun Artists: Paintings and Sculptures, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane
2004
Wik Kaa'th Pii'tha—Wik Stories of our Dreams, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
Hitting On and Kicking Off, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns
2003
Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Songlines: Emerging Queensland Indigenous Artists, Fox Galleries, Brisbane
2002
Stories from Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, National Museum of Australia, Canberra; Guangzhou Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China 
The Queensland/Berlin Indigenous Art Exhibition, Ludwig Erhard Haus, Berlin, Germany
Kank inum-Nink inum (Old way-New way), Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Coolum, Queensland
Journey, Urban Art Projects, Brisbane
2000
Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art in Modern Worlds, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
1998
Wik: Takeback, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, Sydney
1997
Painting the Land Story, Old Parliament House, Canberra
Laura Festival Exhibition, Cairns Regional Gallery, Queensland
1996
Pacific Wave Festival of Arts, Bondi Pavilion Community Cultural Centre, Sydney
Savode Gallery, Brisbane
1995
Recent Sculptures from Aurukun, Aboriginal and South Pacific Gallery, Sydney
1993–94
Aratjara: Art of the First Australians, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany; Hayward Gallery, London, England; Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humlebæk, Denmark; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1989
Australian and International Sculpture, Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne
1988
Australian Art Post-1960, Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne
1980
Aboriginal Australia, presented by the Australian Gallery Directors Council in association with National Gallery of Victoria: travelling to National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Australian Museum, Sydney

Award/Commission

2007
Regional Resident Award, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
2002
Art Built-in, William McCormack Place, Cairns

Selected Bibliography

Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan Jr: Walkan-aw and Kalben, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, 2008 [ex. cat]
Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan Jr: Culture Warrior, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, 2008 [ex. cat]
Aurukun Artists: Wiy min yumpan ngamp (We made all this), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, 2008 [ex. cat]
Aurukun Artists: Yuk Wiy Min (Wood and Other Things), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, 2009 [ex. cat]
Aurukun Artists: Ach-umpan (It looks nice), Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, 2010 [ex. cat.]
Caruana, Wally. Aboriginal Art, Thames & Hudson, London and New York, 1993 and 2003, p. 185
Cochrane, Susan. ‘Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest’, Artlink, Vol 23, no 4 
Cooper, Carol; Morphy, Howard; Mulvaney, John; and Peterson, Nicolas. Aboriginal Australia [ex. cat.], Australian Gallery Directors Council, Sydney, 1981
Cozic, Miriam. ‘Led by visions of their own’, The Australian, 12 October 2007
Demozay, Marion (editor). Gatherings: Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art from Queensland Australia, Keeaira Press, Southport, 2001
Denham, Peter. ‘Not to give away, not to die away: An interview with Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan Jr’, Story Place: Indigenous art of Cape York and the rainforest [ex. cat.], Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2003
Denham, Peter. ‘Arthur Pambegan Jr: Not to Die Away’, Artlink—the old magic: elders of the artworld, Vol. 26 No. 4, 2006, pp. 66–67
Dunlop, Ian (director). Dances at Aurukun, Australian Commonwealth Film Unit for Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Sydney, 1964, Colour film, 16mm, 28 mins.
Hutchings, Patrick. ‘Longtime coming: A new exhibition showcases the creativity of indigenous art’, The Age, 20 October 2007
Kaus, David. ‘National Museum of Australia, Canberra’, in Cochrane, Susan (ed.). Aboriginal art collections: highlights from Australia’s public museums and galleries, Craftsman House, St Leonards, NSW, 2001, pp. 22–28
Lane, Carly. in Cubillo, Franchesca and Caruana, Wally (eds.). Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art: Collection highlights, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2010
McLean, Bruce; Sutton, Peter; and Woods, Chantelle. ‘Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan Jr’, Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial [ex. cat.], National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007
Morphy, Howard. Aboriginal Art, Phaidon Press, London and New York, 1998, p. 393
Norington, Brad. ‘Potomac River dreaming’, The Australian, 10 September 2009
Reynolds, Amanda. ‘Wik Ceremonies are Sacred’, Stories from Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, National Museum of Australia, Canberra; in association with Guangzhou Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, 2002
Songlines: Emerging Queensland Indigenous Artists [ex. cat.], Keeaira Press, Southport, 2003
Sutton, Peter. ‘Pambegan, Arthur: Bonefish’, Puulway—Wik and Kugu Totems: Contemporary Australian Sculpture from Aurukun [ex. cat.], Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, 2007
Sutton, Peter (ed.). Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, Viking, in association with the Asian Society Galleries, New York, 1988
Sutton, Peter. ‘High art and religious intensity: A brief history of Wik sculpture’, Aboriginal art in modern worlds [ex. cat.], National Gallery of Australia, 2000

Public Collections

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Museum of Australia, Canberra
Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Artbank, Sydney
Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, Sydney
Ipswich Art Gallery, Queensland
The University of Queensland, Brisbane
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
Levy Kaplan Collection, Seattle, USA