Clan
Maŋgalili
Songline
Milŋuyawuy | The Milky Way
"The little stars illuminate the depths of the water. Those ones that live on the earth move above. They go up, becoming faint, and then they are gone–just the same as with people. They all travel up that same river, the one that is also represented on the ground–Milŋiyawuy. Up above is their spirit reflection."
– Naminapu Maymuru-White
More Info
Watch Naminapu Maymuru-White discuss her practice:
Naminapu’s work incorporates elements of mortuary ritual that are links between the Maŋgalili and other clans. She describes how the Guwak men were told by the ancestral cuckoo to lead the Maŋgalili to a new homeland at Djarrakpi. When the Guwak men journeyed back, they drowned in the Blue Mud Bay. This site, a spirit source of the Maŋgalili, is also the freshwater crocodile’s nesting place. Despite rescue attempts, the Guwak men destined themselves as offerings to the night sky. Their souls, and all of the Maŋgalili souls that came after them, can still be seen in the sky at night as the Milky Way.
Listen to curator Henry Skerritt discuss the work:
– Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre
Additional Information
Decade
2019
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
84 41/64 x 36 7/32 x 2 61/64
Dimensions (CM)
215 x 92 x 7.5
Credit
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.
The 2017–19 Kluge-Ruhe Maḏayin Commission.
Purchased with funds provided by Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf of Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, and Elizabeth Kingdon and Michael Rowe, 2022.
Narrative
Maŋgalili
The Maŋgalili clan belongs to the Yirritja moiety. Their major spiritual theme revolves around the...
Songline
Milŋuyawuy | The Milky Way
Munuminya and Yikawaŋa went hunting for fish in the river Milmooya. They made a canoe,...
Location
2010s
The 2010s saw Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka go from strength to strength. At the National Aboriginal and...
About The Artist(s)
Clan
Maŋgalili
Artist Dates
Born 1952
Naminapu Maymuru-White
Naminapu Maymuru-White was born at the Yirrkala Mission in Northeast Arnhem Land, the daughter of artist Nänyin Maymuru. Having attended the mission school and working at local stores, Naminapu was always drawn to art making.
Studying her father’s artwork from childhood, and receiving instruction from her uncle Narritjin Maymuru and her father, Naminapu was one of the first Yolŋu women to be taught how to paint miny’tji, sacred created clan designs, and later played an important role in the declassification of previously restricted designs for commercial and legal use.
Having lived in Gurka’wuy during the early days of the Homeland Movement, Melbourne, Darwin, and later returning to a now self-governed Yirrkala, Naminapu worked as a teacher, art instructor, and curator at the Buku-Larrnggay Arts Center.
Naminapu is a two-time winner at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. In 2024, she was selected for inclusion in the 60th Venice Biennale.
Collections Represented
Artbank
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia
Australian National Maritime Museum
Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
National Museum of Australia