The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australia presents Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala that celebrate their collection of work by Yolŋu women artists from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre (Buku), in North-East Arnhem Land. Buku is the Indigenous community-run art center located in Yirrkala, a small Aboriginal community, approximately 700 kilometers east of Darwin.
Artworks in this exhibition represent Yolŋu people’s worldview – how they see nature, humans, spirit, ancestral being, and many others. For Buku, under Yolŋu Law the ‘Land’ extends to include the sea. Between land and sea, a single cycle of life connects both of them. In the single-cycle life, the Yolŋu hold their songs, sacred designs, and art.
Yolŋu women at Buku are known for manifesting this unique worldview into wonderful works of art that demonstrate their mastery over the medium of bark. This exhibition is featuring the artworks created by Yolŋu women artists, like Noŋgirrŋa Marawili, Ms. N Yunupiŋu, Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, Barrupu Yunupiŋu, Dhambit Munuŋgurr, Marrnyula Munuŋgurr, Mulkun Wirrpanda, Naminapu Maymuru-White, and more.
Naminapu Maymuru-White, Milŋiyawuy (River of Stars) 2020,
earth pigments on Stringybark (Eucalyptus sp.), 140.0 x 84.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased with funds donated by Lisa Fox, 2021
2021.192 © Naminapu Maymuru-White/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
In the prelude, the audiences meet Riŋgitjmi gapu (2021) by Naminapu Maymuru-White. Naminapu is a Maŋgalili born artist (1952) who whose remarkable skills in painting, carving, screenprinting, weaving, linocuts, and batik work. Naminapu was inspired by the Yolŋu concept of Milŋiyawuy, or as it is known in English, the Milky Way. Riŋgitjmi gapu in rough translation means ‘river of Heaven and Earth’. Naminapu sees the resemblance of Milŋiyawuy River and the astral Milky Way. This work depicts an immersive night sky that allows the audiences to walk across. Riŋgitjmi gapu represents Yolŋu ‘s beliefs of the river of stars in the sky, sea, and land.
Riŋgitjmi gapu (2021) by Naminapu Maymuru-White, Photograph: Tom Ross, https://www.theguardian.com/
Close to the Naminapu’s floor art, Bäru story (1990) by Nancy Gaymala Yunupiŋu represents the ancestral being Bäru-the crocodile. Gaymala was a bark painter as well as a master weaver, printmaker, carver, and painter of wooden sculptures. For Yolŋu people, Bäru is an ancestral being who carries gurtha (fire). Bäru represents the flame of fire as a source of energy, power, and strength.
Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu, Bäru story 1990, earth pigments on Stringybark (Eucalyptus sp.),113.6 x 70.7 cm,National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,Purchased from Admission Funds, 1990, O.112-1990 © The Estate of Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu, courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala
Dhambit Munuŋgurr, a women painter who is well-known for her blue colors paintings. Dhambit used acrylic paints to re-create tones of ochre (mainly orange, red, and yellow), and produce bold and soft blue. While other artists work on images of ancestral memories, Dhambit was inspired by Australian contemporary politics. In 2021, Dhambit portrays former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard. Order (2021) depicts Julia Gillard standing in parliament, surrounded by politicians sitting in chairs. Around them, Yolŋu people hold a ceremony dancing with spears. Dhambit’s work represents her honor to Julia Gillard but also criticizes contemporary politics in Australia.
Dhambit Munuŋgurr, Order 2021, synthetic polymer paint on Stringybark (Eucalyptus sp.) 201.0 x 100.0 cm, Purchased with funds donated by Janet Whiting and Phil Lukies, 2021, 147927. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/
Bark Ladies is a remarkable exhibition that shows important works of Yolŋu women artists. It connects the knowledge of the past to the present and helps the next generations to understand it. The artworks in this exhibition also challenge the Eurocentric reading of Indigenous art by portraying Yolŋu people as active subjects in art and world-making.
Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala is on view from 17 December 2021 to 25 April 2022, at NGV International, Australia.