Clan
Rirratjiŋu
Songline
Djan’kawu
"The Djan’kawu named the places, they planted the trees, they made the well water, and then they went over to Ḻiḻirrtjawuy and made water there. And before going back up the hill, they stopped and collected some oysters. At the other side at Biḻbamwuy, they saw the mangrove goannas, and they heard maŋirrigirri (Pteropus alecto, black flying fox)—the dark black ones, which are Dhuwa— hanging on the djota tree."
– WANYUBI MARIKA
Additional Information
Decade
1959
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
75 5/8 x 26 5/8
Dimensions (CM)
192 x 67.5
Credit
Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gift of Dr. Stuart Scougall, 1959. IA66.1959
Narrative
Rirratjiŋu
The Rirratjiŋu clan belongs to the Dhuwa moiety. The major spiritual themes relate to Yalaŋbara,...
Songline
Djan’kawu
When I was a child, my father would put me on his lap and sing...
Location
1950s
Following a rise in the demand for bark paintings, two primary motivations emerge for Yolŋu:...
About The Artist(s)
Clan
Rirratjiŋu
Artist Dates
c.1908–1967
Alternative Names
Maulin, Mauwulan, Mawulan, Molun
Mawalan Marika
Mawalan Marika was the head of one of Australia’s most important artistic dynasties. In 1935, he negotiated the establishment of the Methodist mission at Yirrkala. He was instrumental in the painting of the Yirrkala Church Panels and was a signatory to the Yirrkala Bark Petitions. In the 1960s, he broke with tradition by being the first to teach his daughters to paint.
Collections Represented
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia
National Gallery of Australia
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Trinity College Art Collection, University of Melbourne