Mawalan 1 Marika / Rirratjingu people / Australia 1908–67 / Wandjuk Marika / Rirratjingu people / Australia 1927–87 / Larrtjanga Ganambarr / Ngaymil/Dathiwuy people / Australia c.1932–2000 / Nurryurrngu Marika / Rirratjingu people / Australia b.unknown–1979 / Mowarra Ganambarr / Dathiwuy people / Australia c.1917–2005 / Mithinarri Gurruwiwi / Galpu people / Australia 1929–76 / Gungguyama Dhamarrandji / Djambarrpuyngu people / Australia c.1916–70 / Munggurruwuy Yunupingu / Gumatj people / Australia c.1907–78 / Yalangbara c.1960 / Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark / 183 x 63cm / Purchased 2003 with funds from the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Appeal and the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

Mawalan 1 MARIKA; Wandjuk MARIKA; Larrtjanga GANAMBARR; Nurryurrngu MARIKA; Mowarra GANAMBARR; Mithinarri GURRUWIWI; Gungguyama DHAMARRANDJI; Munggurruwuy YUNUPINGU
Yalangbara c.1960

Not Currently on Display

Yalangbara c.1960 is a rare collaborative painting using a conventional style of composition in which the bark surface is divided into eight sections, each of which has been completed by one artist.

The painting tells a creation story of the Djang’kawu, the major creative beings for the people of the Dhuwa moiety in eastern Arnhem Land (Indigenous people of north-east Arnhem Land are known as Yolngu, and belong to one of two basic divisions, or moieties, called Dhuwa and Yirritja).

The Djang’kawu were siblings, two sisters and a brother, who travelled by canoe from the spirit island of Buralku in the east, carrying sacred objects called rangga in woven dillybags. When they landed at Yalangbara (Port Bradshaw), the country was dry and lifeless. The sisters dug holes with their mawalan (sacred digging sticks) and water bubbled up, creating a well. When they put their rangga into the well, the water overflowed, bringing life to the land. The sisters continued north by canoe to Galiwinku (Elcho Island), and back to the mainland, to Gariyak on the Glyde River. From there, they followed the sun into the west.

Yalangbara c.1960 is an early version of the magnificent Church panels 1962–63, a work made by the same eight artists to hang on the sides of the altar in the local church at Yirrkala.

The eight artists who created Yalangbara c.1960 were ceremonial leaders from north-east Arnhem Land. Mawalan 1 Marika, an important Yolngu leader, became an activist for the protection of his land and culture in the face of bauxite mining around the Yirrkala mission, which threatened to destroy clan lands. Although the historic legal challenge (known as the Gove Land Rights case) failed to halt the mining, it paved the way for the Mabo and Wik native title claims.

Discussion Questions

How have the artists who created Yalangbara c.1960 used composition and figurative elements to tell a collaborative story?

Classroom Activities

1. Read a variety of creation stories from other cultures. What elements do they have in common?

2. Collaborate with other students using a creation story as the basis for a storyboard, graphic novel or comic book. Identify the main parts of your story and illustrate these on separate pages for other students in the class to interpret and decipher.