
Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra | Barama and Lany’tjuŋ: Yirritja Creation Story
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More Info
In late 1962, sixteen Yolŋu men came together to paint two large panels to be installed behind the altar of the new Methodist Church at Yirrkala. The Church Panels represented the most sig-nificant, communal expression of Yolŋu Law produced for public view. Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra was a major contributor to the Yirritja panel. This painting was created shortly after the Church Panels were completed. It was one of the largest bark paintings produced to date, showing the ambition unleashed by this communal project and the desire to present Yolŋu Law to the world.
– Henry Skerritt and Kade McDonald
Additional Information
Decade
c.1963
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
108 ½ x 31 13/6
Dimensions (CM)
275.6 x 80.8
Credit
Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gift of Dr. Stuart Scougall 1964. IA1.1964.
Clan
Dhaḻwaŋu
The Dhaḻwaŋu clan’s main homeland is at Gäṉgaṉ, a freshwater area that consists of rivers,...
Narrative
Barama and Lany’tjung
There were three ancestral beings: Barama, Lany’tjun and Galparrimun. Barama came from the place called...
Location
1960
In 1960, Narritjin Maymuru won various prizes in the Aboriginal art category at the Darwin...
About The Artist

Clan
Dates
c.1932-2003
Alternative Names
Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra
Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra was taught Law and ceremony by his märi (mother’s mother’s brother) Birrikitji Gumana. In 1983, he was the first Aboriginal Australian artist to have his copyright recognized in an Australian court after one of his designs was reproduced on a carpet without permission. In 1997, he was awarded first prize in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.