Acclaimed artists Michael Nelson Jagamara and Imants Tillers were ‘re-united’ in 2001 at the Winn Street Studios in Fortitude Valley, where they completed their first collaborative work Nature Speaks Y / Confused Possum. Since then more than 24 paintings have been completed, of which 5 were exhibited for the FireWorks Gallery 2018 exhibition The Call from Papunya.

Originally, seven collaborative canvas board works were planned. ‘Chapter One’ culminated in the momentous 2008 Fatherland. This was soon followed by ‘Chapter Two’, with an additional six works, closing in 2012 with The Loaded Ground (Drill Hall ANU Canberra exhibition and associated publication) featuring the momentous 165 canvas board work Hymn to the Night. ‘Chapter Three’ includes The Messenger, a 64-panel square format work, which featured in the exhibition Meeting Place at Parliament House Gallery, August-November 2017, with this work being subsequently acquired by APH Art Collection.

The 2017 Metafisica Australe, comprising 72 canvas boards, which showcases Michael Nelson’s seminal 1984 work, Five Stories, repainted and reimagined in a collaborative format, was acquired by QAGOMA and was the focus of the 2018 QAGOMA Foundation Appeal.

Recently a major collaborative work The call from Papunya was acquired by the Tate Modern, London.

A fourth chapter will be released, featuring works begun in 2019 by Michael Nelson Jagamara, which will be completed by Imants Tillers.