Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr

Last updated

Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr is an Australian artist renowned for her finely detailed paintings on bark. In some publications Rerrkirrwanga is referred to as Rerrki, which appears to be a nickname from her older sister Marrnyula Mununggurr. [1] She is the youngest daughter of the artist Djutjadjutja Munungurr. [2] Her husband, Yalpi Yunupinu, helped train Rerrkirrwanga in the traditions that he painted in addition to what she learned from her father. [3] In the 1990s, Rerrkirrwanga finished many of his works even though they are attributed to her father. [2] She now has authority to paint her own stories and her large-scale works on bark are in Australian and international collections. [4]

Contents

Biography

Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr was born in 1971 in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, and her family is part of the Djapu clan of the Yolngu people. Her father Djutjadjutja Munungurr, older sister Marrnyula Mununggurr, and mother Nonggirrnga Marawili have all worked as artists within the Aboriginal community.  She is married to Gumatj artist Yalpi Yunupingu. [5]

Rerrkirrwanga was the one of the first printmakers at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Center and she continues to be an active artist in the center. [2] The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Center is located in Yirrkala, an Aboriginal community about 700 kilometers east of Darwin. [6] This is the Indigenous community-controlled art center of Northeast Arnhem Land. [4]

In 2012 she held solo exhibition Rerrkirrwanga Munungurr & Nawarapu Wunungmurra: New Works at Annandale Galleries. [7]

In 2014 she travelled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA for her solo exhibition at Chiaroscuro Gallery. [4]

She attended group exhibitions: In 2018, she contributed to Oceanic: Land and Sea; Gods and Men at Annandale Galleries, Australia. [7] In 2023, she participated in collective exhibition Artists of the North Country(Arnhem Land & Beyond) at Mitchell Fine Art. [7]

Screen Printing

Through her time as a screen printer at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Center, many screen printers at the center worked with master printmaker Basil Hall, [8] who has been working alongside Aboriginal artists since 1983 to facilitate production of screen prints and to integrate other mediums of art creation. [9] Basil Hall assisted in the establishment of the art center in Yirrkala, who taught the interested artists how to utilize the printmaking equipment her brought. [8] Rerrkirrwanga and her sister, Marrnyula Munungurr, created the first lino cut designs at the Art Center when screen printing first began there. [10]

In 2015, she created an etching call Ganybu. [11] Ganybu are a type of fishing net that her community produces that are double-sided and triangular. [11] According to the Dreamtime stories that are told today, although the knowledge of these nets was acquired from two spirit men named Djirrawit and Nyåluŋ sometime in the past, these nets are still used today in some cases. [11]

Bark Paintings (nuwayak)

At the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, at the end of the wet season, Stringybark trees are stripped of their bark which is then wet, cured by fire, weighted, and left to dry. [12] Ochres and earth pigments in red, yellow, black, and white are collected from known deposits.

Brushes are made with human hair tied to a stick. [13] These brushes are called mawat, and Rerrkirrwanga’s are known to be among the finest, accounting for her meticulously detailed bark paintings. [4] Rerrkirrwanga’s bark paintings are so finely detailed they can require weeks of careful concentration. [14]

A unique aspect of her bark paintings is her ability to paint both Dhuwa and Yirritja miny'ti, or sacred symbols. [1] Rerrki received authority from her husband Yälpi to paint his Yirritja miny'ti and she also has the authority to illustrate her own Dhuwa miny'ti. [1]

On the dried barks, the artists paint sacred designs that belong to themselves or to their clans. They use meticulous layering of individual strokes to produce cross hatched patterns, each pattern belonging to a particular estate, clan, moiety, or place. Rerrkirrwanga often paints stories and patterns related to her husband’s clan Gumatj. The elders at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre have resisted painting with acrylics on canvas or board and continue the use of natural pigments and sheets of bark. [13]

Awards

In 2009, Rerrkirrwanga won Best Bark Painting category in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art awards. The piece that won the award was named Gumatj Gurtha [15] , which showed her husband’s clan designs of fire. [2] The fire is called Gurtha and is pictorially represented as trails of diamond. The diamond design, represents the various states of fire; the red flames, the white smoke and ash, the black charcoal and the yellow dust. [16] The totemic significance of fire to the Yunupiŋu family of the Gumatj is paramount. [17]

In 2010, Rerrkirrwanga was a finalist for the TOGART NT Contemporary Art Award. [2]

Exhibitions

Since 1994 her art has appeared in more than 30 exhibitions across Australia, and in 2014 she had a solo exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico. [4]

Collections

Her works can be seen in the following public collections: [4]

Her work is also in many private collections in Australia and abroad.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yirrkala</span> Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land.

Narritjin Maymuru was a Yolngu people artist and activist noted for Bark painting. He began painting in the 1940s after time as a cook. After decades of work in 1979 he, and his son, became visiting artists at the Australian National University. His daughter Galuma Maymuru has become recognised as a significant Australian artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marrnyula Mununggurr</span> Indigenous Australian painter

Marrnyula Mununggurr (1964) is an Aboriginal Australian painter of the Djapu clan of the Yolngu people, known for her use of natural ochres on bark and hollow logs, wood carvings, linoleum and screen print productions.

Nyapanyapa Yunupingu was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker who lived and worked in the community at Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Yunupingu created works of art that drastically diverge from the customs of the Yolngu people and made waves within the art world as a result. Due to this departure from tradition within her oeuvre, Yunupingu's work had varying receptions from within her community and the broader art world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonggirrnga Marawili</span> Australian painter and printmaker

Nonggirrnga Marawili was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker. She was the daughter of the acclaimed artist and pre-contact warrior Mundukul. Marawili was born on the beach at Darrpirra, near Djarrakpi, as a member of the Madarrpa clan of the Yirritja moiety. She grew up in both Yilpara and Yirrkala in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, but lived wakir', meaning her family would move frequently, camping at Madarrpa clan-related sites between Blue Mud Bay and Groote Eylandt. Marawili died at Yirrkala in October 2023.

Djambawa Marawili is an Aboriginal Australian artist known for bark painting, wood sculpture, and printmaking. He is also a musician, and released an album in 2008.

Dhuwarrwarr Marika, also known as Banuminy, a female contemporary Aboriginal artist. She is a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. She belongs to the Dhuwa moiety of the Rirratjingu clan in the homeland of Yalangbara, daughter of Mawalan Marika. Marika is an active bark painter, carver, mat maker, and printmaker.

Mithinarri Gurruwiwi (c.1929–1976) was an Aboriginal Australian painter of the Gälpu clan of the Yolngu people of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. His first name is sometimes spelt Midinari, Mitinari, or Mithinari.

Mungurrawuy Yunupingu (c.1905–1979) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist and leader of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people of northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was known for his bark paintings.

Ishmael Marika is a Yolngu musician, filmmaker, director and producer. His installations have been exhibited in many of Australia's most important museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. He is currently the Creative Director for the pre-eminent Indigenous media unit in Australia, the Mulka Project, based at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre at Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem Land. The Mulka Project seeks to preserve and disseminate the sacred languages and cultural practices of the Yolngu people by collecting and archiving photographs, audio and video.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre</span> Indigenous Australian art centre at Yirrkala, Northern Territory

The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, formerly Buku-Larrŋgay Arts and also known as the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre and Museum, is an art centre in Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is often referred to as Buku for short. It is one of many Indigenous art centres across Australia, which support their communities and make them self-reliant – an Australian invention. Many notable artists have worked or continue to work at the centre.

Malaluba Gumana is an Australian Aboriginal artist from northeast Arnhem Land, who has gained prominence through her work in painting and the production of larrakitj, the memorial poles traditionally used by Yolngu people in a mortuary ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wukun Wanambi</span> Yirrkala Aboriginal artist (1962–2022)

Wukun Wanambi was an Australian Yolngu painter, filmmaker and curator of the Marrakulu clan of northeastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

Dhambit Mununggurr is a Yolngu artist of the Gupa-Djapu clan known for her unique ultramarine blue bark paintings inspired by natural landscapes and Yolngu stories and legends. In 2005, Mungunggurr was hit by a truck, leaving her wheelchair bound and stopping her from painting for five years. The incident affected her painting by limiting her use of her right hand.

Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu was a senior Yolngu artist and matriarch, who lived in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. She worked at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, where her work is still held, and is known for her graphic art style, bark paintings and printmaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial pole</span> Hollow log coffin, now created as artworks, from northern Australia

A memorial pole, also known as hollow log coffin, burial pole, lorrkkon, ḻarrakitj, or ḏupun, is a hollow tree trunk decorated with elaborate designs, made by the Yolngu and Bininj peoples of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Originally used to hold the bones of deceased people or for burial ceremonies, they are now made as works of art. The permanent exhibit at the National Gallery of Australia, Aboriginal Memorial, consists of 200 hollow log coffins, created by 43 artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunybi Ganambarr</span> Australian Aboriginal Artist

Gunybi Ganambarr is an Aboriginal artist from Yirrkala, in the North-eastern Arnhem Land of the Northern Territory. He currently resides in Gängän where he continues to create his art. Ganambarr is considered the founder of the "Found" movement in northeast Arnhem Land, in which artists use recycled materials, onto which are etched sacred designs more commonly painted on eucalyptus bark.

Mulkuṉ Wirrpanda was an Aboriginal Australian community leader and artist from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Coming from a family of artists, her work focuses on botany surrounding her homelands.

Gawirrin Gumana (1935–2016) was an important cultural leader of the Yolngu people and an Aboriginal Australian bark painter known for his use of rarrk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baluka Maymuru</span> Australian artist

Baluka Maymuru is an Aboriginal Australian artist from Yirrkala, Australia. He is the son of artist Näyin' Maymuru. Baluka is the head of the Manggalili clan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr Archives". Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "TogArt Contemporary Art Exhibition". TogArt Contemporary Art Exhibition. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "YalpiYunupiŋu | BUKU-LARRŊGAY MULKA CENTRE" . Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr". bib bam brisbane. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr | Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "BUKU-LARRŊGAY MULKA CENTRE | BUKU-LARRŊGAY MULKA CENTRE" . Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 "Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr" . Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Marrnyula MunuŋgurrIn the early days- linoImage Size: 76.5 x 56.3cm; Paper Size: 76.5 x 56.3cm; Paper: MagnaniID: 4681-23 | BUKU-LARRŊGAY MULKA CENTRE" . Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "Basil Hall Collection of Indigenous Prints". Kluge-Ruhe. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Mununggurr, Marrnyula (August 2002). "Feature Artist: Marrynyula Mununggurr, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, Yirrkala NT" (PDF). Association of the Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists. p. 4. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 Charles Darwin University. "Revolution Suite: 20 years of Printmaking at Yirrkala Print Space" (PDF). Charles Darwin University Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Luke (28 November 1996). Seeing the Inside: Bark Painting in Western Arnhem Land. Oxford University Press. p. 130. ISBN   9780198273905.
  13. 1 2 "Artworks | BUKU-LARRŊGAY MULKA CENTRE" . Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Gurtha-Fire" (PDF). Vivian Anderson Gallery. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  15. ↑ "Telstra NATSIAA Winners". MAGNT. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Gurtha, 2019 by Rerrkirrwaŋa Munuŋgurr". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Bonhams : Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr (born 1971) Gurtha at Biranybirany". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.