{"id":2697,"date":"2022-10-11T16:28:51","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2022-11-23T19:06:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T19:06:06","slug":"the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dartmouth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Madayin at the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH, on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.\n\nCopyright 2022 Rob Strong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Sept. 3, the Hood Museum of Art debuted its newest exhibition: \u201cMa\u1e0fayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala.\u201d Organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia in partnership with the Buku-Larr\u014bay Mulka Centre in Australia, \u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d makes history as both the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark painting in the United States and the largest display of Aboriginal Australian art in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d allows the Yol\u014bu people to convey the stories of their culture, families and heritage. Many of these stories originated in Yirrkala, the northeast Arnhem Land in Australia\u2019s Northern Territory. \u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d is the first exhibition for which Yol\u014bu people have been asked to participate in the curating and decision making processes. According to Wakun Wa\u1e49ambi, artist and Yol\u014bu co-curator of Ma\u1e0fayin, no Yol\u014bu have ever curated before this exhibit \u2014 it was a job for the \u201cnon-Yol\u014bu\u201d who do not understand the rich history of these paintings in the same way the Yol\u014bu do. This partnership allows for the unique, authentic voices of Indigenous Australian people to be displayed in an American museum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the opening remarks of the exhibition\u2019s media event, Hood Museum director John Stomberg said that the exhibition has undergone a long journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[\u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d] is a project that our colleagues at the Kluge-Ruhe have been working on for seven years, but a tradition that goes back much farther,\u201d Stomberg said. \u201cI think one way of thinking about this exhibition, this art, these wonderful paintings, is that it is a beautiful flower, with roots that go down 80,000 years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the information displayed on the walls throughout the exhibition, the Yol\u014bu have a deep culture that was confusing to follow at times. However, in curating \u201cMa\u1e0fayin,\u201d the Yol\u014bu people organized the pieces according to their kinship system, called gurru\u1e6fu. Gurru\u1e6fu is known to the Yol\u014bu people as raki<\/em>, or string, and it is how all Yol\u014bu people are connected. The raki<\/em> also applies to the land, sea, creatures and plants. Through this interconnectedness, the Yol\u014bu people have great knowledge of the land and the sea; they belong to the land and everything in their world through gurru\u1e6fu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yol\u014bu people have another way of classifying their pieces throughout this exhibit. All Yol\u014bu clans belong to the Dhuwa or the Yirritja, complementary groups, or moieties. Yol\u014bu people must marry someone from the opposite moiety, and Yol\u014bu children always take their father\u2019s moiety. Each artist on display in \u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d belongs to one of sixteen different clans; eight are Dhuwa and eight are Yirritja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Skerritt, curator of Indigenous arts of Australia at the Kluge-Ruhe Collection, explained that this exhibition is about relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about families,\u201d Skerritt said. \u201cIt\u2019s about speaking across cultures, but it\u2019s about doing it in your own words, about respecting each other\u2019s way of seeing the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon entering the exhibition, viewers are greeted by a full-wall projection of the ocean waves in Australia. On the adjacent wall there is a quote by Wukun Wa\u1e49ambi, a recently deceased artist and member of the exhibition\u2019s curatorial team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike the surface of the water, beneath is an ocean of knowledge,\u201d Wa\u1e49ambi said. \u201cWe can only show you the surface.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This quote sets the expectation for the exhibition before viewers move upstairs to view and appreciate 80 bark paintings that explain the rich history of the Yol\u014bu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Madayin at the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH, on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.\n\nCopyright 2022 Rob Strong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For decades, the Yol\u014bu people have painted their clan designs on themselves and other ceremonial objects. These ancestral land designs of intricate patterns are ma\u1e0fayin, a term that means sacred and beautiful. With some paintings standing over 12 feet tall, the paintings are created on sheets of eucalyptus bark using natural pigments. Although the color scheme of these paintings only consists of a few natural colors, the patterns and meanings behind these paintings are vibrant, drawing viewers in to learn and understand.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d incorporates older pieces dating back to 1935 and some newly commissioned paintings created by Yol\u014bu Aborigial Australian artists specifically for the exhibit. As visitors move throughout the exhibit, they will also experience the use of film. Produced by Ishmael Marika, a Yol\u014bu filmmaker and integral person in the curation of \u201cMa\u1e0fayin,\u201d there are four floor-to-ceiling projections of Yol\u014bu ceremonial dance. The combination of new media and sacred, ancestral paintings blend beautifully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the press event for \u201cMa\u1e0fayin,\u201d Ishmael and Djuwakan Marika, a Yol\u014bu father and son team, ceremonially performed a song about birds before viewers were guided through the exhibition and given an authentic history of a few specific bark paintings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Madayin at the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH, on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.\n\nCopyright 2022 Rob Strong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDestiny\u201d (2019)<\/a> is a piece by Wukun Wa\u1e49ambi, a member of the Marrakulu clan. From far away the piece looks like dots on a large piece of eucalyptus bark. However, as the viewer moves in closer, the detail of hundreds of small fish becomes clear. Through this piece, Wa\u1e49ambi tells the story of a fish called Wawurritjpal that swims through the water, wondering where his path is. Going alone at first, the fish traveled from river to river until he found his own family. Then, the fish returned to the rock and laid down his spirit with his family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Djuwakan Marika, a Yol\u014bu musician, dancer, artist and the grandson of the great artist Wandjuk Djuwakan Marika, \u201cDestiny\u201d displays more than just the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt brings the rain,\u201d Marika said. \u201c[The Yol\u014bu] typically like stories. Story comes with the songlines.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designs presented by the Yol\u014bu people make viewers feel the Yol\u014bu\u2019s rich tradition and family ties, while also providing a platform for them to educate viewers in a setting that has never heard the voices or stories of these people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Stubbs, the director of the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Arts Centre in Yirrkala, Australia summarized the power and beauty of \u201cMa\u1e0fayin.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis exhibition traces the trajectory of sharing by allowing people who will never understand the intricacies of Yol\u014bu culture a window into what might exist on that other side of that fence through the power of visual art,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThis is \u2018Ma\u1e0fayin\u2019: sacred, secret, law and ma\u1e0fayin, beauty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMa\u1e0fayin\u201d will remain at the Hood Museum of Art until Dec. 4. After Dartmouth, the exhibition will embark on a nationwide tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis exhibition traces the trajectory of sharing by allowing people who will never understand the intricacies of Yol\u014bu culture a window into what might exist on that other side of that fence through the power of visual art,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThis is \u2018Ma\u1e0fayin\u2019: sacred, secret, law and ma\u1e0fayin, beauty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[15,23,14,37,38,9,10,13,21,39,12,11],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma\u1e0fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThis exhibition traces the trajectory of sharing by allowing people who will never understand the intricacies of Yol\u014bu culture a window into what might exist on that other side of that fence through the power of visual art,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThis is \u2018Ma\u1e0fayin\u2019: sacred, secret, law and ma\u1e0fayin, beauty.\u201d\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma\u1e0fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-11T16:28:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-23T19:06:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220907-madayin-086-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1316\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Henry Skerritt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Henry Skerritt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/\",\"name\":\"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-11T16:28:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-23T19:06:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f488b4519c60af5802a3ac0a59e26c17\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/\",\"name\":\"Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin\",\"description\":\"Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f488b4519c60af5802a3ac0a59e26c17\",\"name\":\"Henry Skerritt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5d445a5c5b36213a4d4cea1176d7f0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5d445a5c5b36213a4d4cea1176d7f0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Henry Skerritt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/author\/henry\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma\u1e0fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin","og_description":"\u201cThis exhibition traces the trajectory of sharing by allowing people who will never understand the intricacies of Yol\u014bu culture a window into what might exist on that other side of that fence through the power of visual art,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThis is \u2018Ma\u1e0fayin\u2019: sacred, secret, law and ma\u1e0fayin, beauty.\u201d\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma\u1e0fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/","og_site_name":"Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin","article_published_time":"2022-10-11T16:28:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-23T19:06:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1316,"url":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220907-madayin-086-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Henry Skerritt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Henry Skerritt","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/","url":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/","name":"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood - Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-10-11T16:28:51+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-23T19:06:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f488b4519c60af5802a3ac0a59e26c17"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/the-dartmouth-ma%e1%b8%8fayin-makes-history-at-the-hood\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dartmouth: Ma\u1e0fayin makes history at the Hood"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/","name":"Kluge-Ruhe: Madayin","description":"Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f488b4519c60af5802a3ac0a59e26c17","name":"Henry Skerritt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5d445a5c5b36213a4d4cea1176d7f0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5d445a5c5b36213a4d4cea1176d7f0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Henry Skerritt"},"url":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/author\/henry\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2815,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions\/2815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}