Organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

Mawalan Marika | Djan’kawu Creation Story 3

Mawalan Marika

Djan’kawu Creation Story 3, 1959

Djan’kawu Waŋarr Dhäwu 3

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,...

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Songline

Djan’kawu

When I was a child, my father would put me on his lap and sing...

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Location

Yalaŋbara

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Location

1950s

Following a rise in the demand for bark paintings, two primary motivations emerge for Yolŋu:...

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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

Brooklyn Museum

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia

National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Victoria

National Museum of Australia

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Trinity College Art Collection, University of Melbourne