
More Info
In Mawalan’s painting, the central figure represents the Milky Way as the river of stars in the sky. We can see Ŋäw’ and Ŋuykal, the canoe and the sea monster amid a background of stars. In the top left of the painting, a group of people are shown in ceremony playing the yiḏaki (didjeridu) and singing. On the right, lower down, figures appear on either side of a fire with their arms raised, as if holding clapsticks. Above them seems to float the drowned body of the Guwak. It is characteristic of Yolŋu paintings of ceremony to move from the human performance of the ritual to the Waŋarr dimension with which it engages, just as people are incorporated within the spiritual domain.
Clan leaders respected for their knowledge, ability and authority may be given the right to make paintings belonging to other clans. Mawalan was the leader of the Rirratjiŋu clan on whose Country the mission station of Yirrkala was established in 1935, 125 miles north of the Maŋgalili’s main estates. Giving Mawalan the right to produce one of their designs was the Maŋgalili’s acknowledgment of their living in his Country at Yirrkala and a means of strengthening their relationship. Mawalan’s painting references the Maŋgalili clan not only in subject matter but also in style.
Listen to the artist's daughter Dhuwarrwarr Marika discuss her father's paintings of Milŋiyawuy:
– Howard Morphy
Additional Information
Decade
Before 1966
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
37 1/2 x 14
Dimensions (CM)
95.2 x 35.6
Credit
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.
Edward L. Ruhe Collection, Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1993.0004.110.
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
1960s
The 1960s were a decade of tumult and triumph for Yolŋu art and artists. In...
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