Birth of a Nation
2 - 26 April, 2025
Presented by Aboriginal & Pacific Art in association with Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, Northern Territory.
Cover page: Dhuwarrwarr Marika, Yalangbara #3472-19, Earth Pigments on Stringybark, 150 x 64 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #3553-24
Earth pigments on Stringybark 105 x 65.5 cm
These are three impressive women. Their art practice and spiritual identity are all very different. But there is a thread which ties them all together. They are all intimately connected with the Rirratjingu clan homelands of Yalaŋbara and Yirrkala. Dhuwarrwarr is the first female artist to be recognised as having the authority to paint sacred design from her father Mawalan. Djalinda is the daughter of Dhuwarrwarr’s older sister who also painted in her own right. Milminyina is the senior elder responsible for the Djambarrpuyŋu clan’s special relationship with the Rirratjiŋu in the estates of Bremer Island.
The landscape that these works originate from is very special. On the very top right corner of the Top End of the Northern Territory. It is mostly open unspoiled Stringybark forest fringed by white sand beaches and rocky outcrops and islets.
It is the home of the Yolŋu people and their identity is etched in the landscape. Each small estate is enshrined in manikay (sacred song) and miny’tji (sacred design). The songs take place in a grammatic tense which we do not have access to in English. At Yalaŋbara the Djaŋ’kawu Sisters coated in white foam and sea spray from their long oceanic journey from another dimension land/are landing/ will land on the beach under the towering dunes there. Dhuwarrwarr shows their footsteps in the steep slipping sand as they climb/are climbing/will climb. At the top of the dunes a creative act occurs. Dhuwarrwarr shows the spring gushing forth at dawn. They give birth to the first humans born on the Australian continent. These are Rirratjiŋu people. It is the birth of a nation.
This family is an important one. It was this family who led the charge in defending their sacred areas against the alliance of mining companies, missionaries and government who aimed to destroy it. The Yirrkala Church Panels, the Yirrkala Bark Petition and the Gove Land Rights Case were all led in part by Mawalan, Mathaman, Milirrpum, Wandjuk and Dadayŋa Marika. In the 1967 Referendum the modern Australia polity finally matured in allowing all people to be regarded as citizens.
As well as painting the origin point at Yalaŋbara Dhuwarrwarr has shown the estate of Gäma-Wukitj. This is the coastal area which wraps around Yirrkala from Witiyana (Rocky Point) to Dhamitjinya near the mouth of Melville Bay. It includes the shores of Bremer Island and holds several songlines. Djalinda paints these waters specifically between the mainland and the island. Milminyina presides over the ceremony which unites the Djambarrpuyŋu and Rirratjiŋu at a spring on that island.
From the origin of the Rirratjiŋu nation to the origins of our national democracy these paintings describe the underlying creative forces driving these outcomes.
- Will Stubbs
Earth pigments on Stringybark
105 x 64 cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Yalaŋbara #3472-19
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #7394-23
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
68 x 38 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #6191-22
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
75 x 40.5 cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Milngurr #4216n
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
51 x 101 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #1904-25
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
96 x 70 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #7452-23
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
41 x 68 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #5261-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
76.5 x 49 cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Yalaŋbara #2050-20
Earth Pigments on Stringybark 143 x 69 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #1115-23
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
148.5 x 73 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #8309-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
53 x 41 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandi Dhambadiny #7713-22
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
54.5 x 49 cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Yalaŋbara #1966-23
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
64 x 35 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #4807-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
58.5 x 48 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #7237-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
50 x 77 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #8917-22
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
89 x 36 cm
Dhuwarrwarr Marika Yalaŋbara #2193-23
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
66 x 44 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #4253-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
49.5 x 39.5 cm
Djalinda Yunupiŋu
Yathiny #4966-24
Earth Pigments on Stringybark
87 x 46 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji
Dhambadiny #6641-24
Larrakitj
218 x 10 cm
201 x 20 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji Dhambadiny #6108
Larrakitj
226 x 23 cm
Milminyina Dhamarrandji
Dhambadiny #7940-24
Larrakitj
Birth of a Nation
2 - 26 April, 2025
Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney in association with Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, Northern Territory.
All images and text copyright the Artists and Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre.
Aboriginal & Pacific Art, 1/24 Wellington Street, Waterloo, NSW, 2017 Australia
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