Mawalan Marika | Djan’kawu Creation Story 3
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More Info
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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
Clan
Rirratjiŋu
The Rirratjiŋu clan’s homeland is at Yirrkala, on the east coast of the Gove peninsula....
Narrative
Djan’kawu
Djan’kawu are the Dhuwa moiety creator beings. “When I was a child, my father would...
Location
1950
In 1952, large deposits of bauxite were discovered in Melville Bay and on the Gove...
About The Artist

Clan
Dates
c.1908–1967
Alternative Names
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.