<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Skerritt (HS): Ma\u1e0fayin <\/em>was seven years in the making: after such a long process of development, what was it like seeing to finally see exhibition?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ishmael Marika (IM):<\/strong> I think the exhibition is great. I was really happy to see all the paintings together. It made me proud to see my grandmother [Ms. M. Wirrpanda\u2019s<\/a>] paintings and my father [Wanyubi Marika\u2019s]<\/a> painting and all the others. Seeing all those works, by the old people \u2013they went before me\u2013 and seeing my video pieces there alongside them, it was like talking to the ancestors or talking to the spirits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And I enjoyed talking to people in America and telling them about the Yol\u014bu people\u2014that we still speak our own languages; that we have our own songlines; and that we do paintings to represent sea Country and inland Country and all that stuff. It was an opportunity to tell them that the painted designs do not exist by themselves \u2013 they are a map of the Country and the boundaries \u2013 telling you whose songlines and language groups each painting belongs to. The old people documented that in those barks \u2013 in the early days \u2013 and that practice continues through to today. People don\u2019t know these stories! We don\u2019t document them in a book, we document them on bark. We have been given these stories through the songlines, and we share them through the songlines and through bark painting. We show how the songlines move through the Country, and how we see the reality of the songlines, as they travel from each area, connecting all the places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kade McDonald (KM): Your videos are a really powerful component of the exhibition. Can you tell us a little about the ideas behind them? Barrku\u014bu Ganydjarr | Strength from Afar <\/em>(2022) is a four-channel video that is staggered throughout the exhibition. It features a single dancer [Gatjarrarra Marika] who moves between the four screens performing different ceremonial dances. What was the inspiration for this piece?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>In 2018, I went to the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia with and Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi. We went to look at the paintings from the early days, from the 1950s and 60s, that were done by the old people. Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi really wanted to have video in the exhibition, to bring the art to life. There are a lot of paintings in the exhibition, but people don\u2019t know the meaning or background to these artworks. They might see it and think it is good art, but then they must go to the catalogue to find the full story. So, Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi said, \u201cOK, we need to work with video to explain about our clans, to show, this is the Dha\u1e3bwa\u014bu clan\u2019s paintings; this is their bu\u014bgul<\/em> (dance); this is their manikay<\/em> (ceremonial song); and they all go together. We wanted to show that these things are all linked; that the art, the dance, and the songlines are all connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On our way to Virginia, we stopped in Los Angeles. Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi and I saw a video installation [by the Icelandic artist Ragner Kjartansson<\/a>]. It had multiple screens with different people playing drums and guitars and other instruments. Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi said, \u201cI want a video like that, but done our way.\u201d He said, \u201cI\u2019m going to make a video for the Ma\u1e0fayin<\/em> exhibition and it\u2019s going to have the bu\u014bgul<\/em> and manikay<\/em> for the clans representing the paintings. So, each of the four screens represents a different clan, and it goes around in a cycle. And the dancers will wear the colors representing their clan members. So, for instance, in the Dha\u1e3bwa\u014bu video, the dancer is wearing red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here in northeast Arnhem land everyone is either Yirritja or Dhuwa. Every place is either Yirritja or Dhuwa, as are the plants, the animals and the waters. In the video, there is a Yirritja half, represented by the Ma\u1e0farrpa and Dha\u1e3bwa\u014bu clans, and a Dhuwa half, represented by the \u1e0e\u00e4\u1e6fiwuy and Djapu\u2019 clans. The cycle goes from \u1e0e\u00e4\u1e6fiwuy to Dha\u1e3bwa\u014bu to Djapu\u2019 to Ma\u1e0farrpa, jumping between each clan, going round in a circle, to represent Yirritja and Dhuwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During that trip in 2018, Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi got sick, and ended up in hospital, but we kept working and planning for the exhibition. I was glad I could be there to help him out. He was sick, which is why I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HS: Could you tell us the significance of the title, Barrku\u014bu Ganydjarr<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM:<\/strong> Barrku\u014bu Ganydjarr <\/em>is the strength that comes from far away\u2013the strength that travels. One of the songlines in the video is sung by Djambawa Marawili. He sings of Yarrwarri, <\/em>the Queen Fish (Scomberoides commersonianus<\/em>), which travels from far down south, from near Numbulwar, all the way to Blue Mud Bay. It takes great strength to travel this distance. And that is like the art that came from here in northeast Arnhem Land and traveled all the way to the other side of the world. The art has strength, and it traveled this great distance to show everybody in the world who we are. That is why I called the video Strength from Afar.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n HS: You mentioned Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi, who played such an important role in curating and developing the exhibition. It really felt like he was present at the opening celebrations at Dartmouth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>Yes, Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi, he was there with us in spirit. That was why I acknowledged him in the manikay<\/em> at the opening dinner. I felt he was present: he was there with us, so I had to say thank you through the songlines. The song I sang is about a spirit man named Wawit from the Marrakulu clan [the same clan as Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi]. The spirit man was hunting for oysters, going down to the beach and eating oysters on the rocks, while the Djapu\u2019 water is crashing on the rocks. There is gathul<\/em>\u2014mangrove trees\u2014and also the water, crashing into that sand. So, the song represents the Marrakulu clan and the spirit of the ancestors that traveled to collect oysters down the beach. Through that songline, I thanked Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi for all the hard work that he put into organizing the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, the song that Djambawa Marawili sang [at the opening ceremony] related to the deep waters of Mu\u014burru. Mu\u014burru, the saltwater of Blue Mud Bay mixes with the Marrakulu water named Gu\u1e6fultja. So, we painted our faces with gapa\u1e49<\/em> (white pipe clay), representing the Marrakulu clan, representing Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi. Djambawa was singing Mu\u014burru, but we did not have Mr. Wa\u1e49ambi to sing for Gu\u1e6fultja, so that is why we put the white ochre on our face, to represent him. We were reaching out to that spirit to join with the other spirit of the water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n KM: That was a very powerful moment at the opening when you were welcomed with song by the Wabanaki leader Chris Newell<\/a> with the exchange of songs and gifts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>Yes, that was very good, seeing the Native people welcoming us and exchanging gifts. Because they are the landowners, we want to connect with them first\u2014their spirits and souls and mind, because everyone is different and has different culture and Law and ancestors. We wanted to acknowledge the traditional landowners and their ancestors and Law, ceremony and designs. We wanted to connect through our art and our songlines. They were good people, looking after us, and the students, were good students. They will learn about Yol\u014bu people through the art and songlines in the exhibition. It will talk to their spirit. It\u2019s all about connections\u2013 gurru\u1e6fu<\/em> (the Yol\u014bu kinship system)\u2013 everybody is connected through the miny\u2019tji <\/em>(painted designs) \u2013 <\/em>all the miny\u2019tji<\/em> \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter if it is Dhuwa or Yirritja, we are all connected through the gurru\u1e6fu <\/em>system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n HS: When visitors enter the exhibition at the Hood Museum, they are greeted by another video installation titled Gapu Mu\u014burru ga Ba\u1e3bamumu Mirikindi <\/em>| Deep Waters of the Dhuwa and Yirritja Moieties, <\/em>2022. Could you tell us about this work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>Yes, the big video at the entrance is about Dhuwa and Yirritja welcoming everyone to the exhibition. Beneath the waters are two songmen\u2014Djambawa Marawili and Mawalan #2 Marika. They are singing a welcoming manikay <\/em>\u2013 or rather, a strengthening manikay, <\/em>a big name manikay<\/em>. When you enter into men\u2019s ceremony, if you go to the Yirritja side you will hear Yirritja people singing Gapu Mu\u014burru <\/em>with the bilma <\/em>(clapsticks). They use big, long clapsticks and will sing all night, sometimes through till the break of dawn. Listening to those songmen gives you strength; it gives you peace, harmony, kindness and happiness. And sometimes you will feel sorrow and think about special people in your life. So, the song can make you emotional, but it will also bring you strength, just as it strengthens the artworks\u2014Dhuwa and Yirritja\u2014so that everyone can enjoy seeing all the paintings. That is what that video means\u2014it welcomes you and gives you strength before you enter the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I said before, everything is Yirritja and Dhuwa \u2013 we are separated by these two moieties, but everyone is connected through the gurru\u1e6fu <\/em>system. Dhuwa can only marry Yirritja; and Yirritja can only marry Dhuwa. We marry the opposite. This also tells us our boundaries. I\u2019m Dhuwa, but my mother is Yirritja, so I must pay respect to my mother and act as a custodian or caretaker for my mother\u2019s clan, to speak on their behalf. But I am Dhuwa, so I can also jump in and talk about my father\u2019s side, and take a role for them, for if my father is gone, I am the next leader of my father\u2019s people. The same goes for my m\u00e4ri-pulu<\/em>, my mother\u2019s mother\u2019s people \u2013 I must speak for their ceremony as well. The same goes for my sister clan or yapa-pulu, <\/em>which is the Marrakulu clan. I have a role to direct or pay respect to them. Through these connections we have a journey that goes through the generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we must communicate to each other\u2014for instance, I must make other clan members aware that I am coming to their land or that I will be talking about a particular area. I will pass my message to those people, saying \u201cOK, this is your boundary, but I will talk about my mother\u2019s paintings or my mother\u2019s mother\u2019s painting.\u201d It is all connected. And as the songlines travel, they remain connected, but the language changes. For example, for my clan, Rirratji\u014bu, the songline travels west and changes from Dhuwal to Djambarrpuy\u014bu, but the story is the same. It keeps traveling from east to west, but the language is changing. Our systems and our languages are many. Americans don\u2019t know who are Yirritja and who are Dhuwa, or that there are six or seven different dialects. People think we all speak one language \u2013 Yol\u014bu Matha \u2013 but Yol\u014bu Matha has many different languages \u2013 Dhuwala, Dhuwal, Dhay\u2019yi, Dha\u014bu and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n KM: What was the highlight of the trip for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>The highlight for me was talking to students and lecturing at the university, talking about different artworks to the students. And not just bark paintings: we talked about digital art pieces, working with video and audio and how Gunybi Ganambarr works with metals; and Djuwakan Marika talked about playing yi\u1e0faki <\/em>(didjeridu) and how that links with the songlines. Yi\u1e0faki <\/em>is like the click-track to the songlines, giving you the rhythm and strength. You have to follow the yi\u1e0faki, <\/em>and the songman and the yi\u1e0faki <\/em>man must communicate, when to take a breath and when to keep going. It was important, talking with the students and the public, not just about the artworks, but about the bilma, <\/em>the yi\u1e0faki, <\/em>the manikay <\/em>and even the sound of the water, the wind blowing through the land or the call of the birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first song I sang [at the media preview for the exhibition] was the song of the brolga. It is a very significant bird. You hear the sound of the brolga in the distance, but you don\u2019t see it. You can hear it, and it feels close to you, but it is in the far distance, circling, looking for food. It is seen on the sun, giving the birds life and bringing new life to the bird. That is what the brolga manikay <\/em>means\u2013it is about bringing new life into the earth and the land, by the sound of the brolga circling in the distance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n American audiences came to me saying \u201cthank you,\u201d because I was talking and explaining to them about the paintings and the video pieces I\u2019d worked on. It was great to be able to explain about some of the paintings, such as my grandmother\u2019s paintings [Retja I <\/em>(2017)<\/a> and Retja II <\/em>2018)<\/a>]which are all about bush food. She grew up eating all that food, but it is not documented, and young people are not learning about it. They are growing up eating shop food and not going out and getting healthy bush foods. That is why she painted it, to document the stories of the food and plants and what they look like, where you find them, in the water or dry areas. She was close to me my grandmother, and I always asked questions about what she was working on. She would tell me stories during my lunch break, and so I kept those stories that she told me, and I shared them with the people who came to see her artworks. I told them the stories she told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n KM: That strikes me as one of the most important things about the Ma\u1e0fayin <\/em>exhibition. At the opening, Djambawa made the point that the older paintings are just as relevant as the new ones, because they tell the same stories and speak to the same gurru\u1e6fu <\/em>connections, and that culture, language, the songlines remain unbroken.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IM: <\/strong>Yes, they are still the same, the same stories. The men tell the stories through the songlines and the same goes for the women, through the milkarri<\/em> or crying songs. They tell the same stories. If the men sing of the travel of fire from Ma\u1e0farrpa to Gumatj Country, the women will cry it through the milkarri, <\/em>following the spirit as it moves across the land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In September 2022, Ishmael Marika traveled to the United States as part of a delegation of Yol\u014bu artists to attend the opening celebration for the exhibition Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. Marika played a central role in the exhibition, as both a member of the curatorial team and by creating two major new video installations with Yirrkala\u2019s multimedia unit The Mulka Project. The following conversation between Marika, Henry Skerritt and Kade McDonald was recorded via zoom following the delegation\u2019s return to Yirrkala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3002,"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":[65,6],"tags":[15,23,14,72,37,68,44,9,69,17,66,10,13,54,67,11],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/madayin.kluge-ruhe.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20220923-madayin-0131-1024x683.jpg\")
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