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Buku-Larrnggay Mulka 'Buku-Larrnggay' means the feeling on your face as it is struck by the first rays of the sun - this denotes that we are in the most easterly place in the Top End of Australia - Miwatj or the Sunrise country. 'Mulka' is a sacred but public ceremony. It also means to hold or protect. Thus we are the North-east Arnhem Land cultural centre and keeping place. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre has a long and proud history as one of Australia's premier art centres and Indigenous culture strongholds. The artists of the Centre have established a world wide reputation for excellence exemplified by their winning of many of Australia's major Indigenous art prizes. History and Significance The art of the Yirrkala region has been developing an appreciative audience for more than sixty years. The sale of art from Yirrkala was amongst the earliest commercial Aboriginal art marketed by Methodist Overseas. There is strong evidence to suggest that the art emerging from Yirrkala in the mid 1950s was a catalyst in the non-Aboriginal art world's realisation that Indigenous Australian art is a unique and profound independent art tradition - the equal of any other global form. Further, the artists of Yirrkala were amongst the first Indigenous Australians to recognise the potential use of visual art as a political tool and put this into practice with the now famous Yirrkala Church Panels and Bark Petition dating from 1963. When government policy shifted and self-determination finally came to communities in Arnhem Land, the artists saw the establishment of a community controlled art centre as critically important to further their economic independence, cultural security over sacred designs, and to maintain political and intellectual sovereignty. The Buku-Larrnggay Art Centre began trading in 1976.
Culture and Environment Like the whole of Creation from the planet Venus to the larvae of the horned beetle (be it a species of plant, animal, fish, bird or any place or person) all things belong to one of the two balancing halves of the world (moieties); Yirritja or Dhuwa. The sacred art of this region details the spiritual forces behind the ongoing Creation and continuing identity of the fresh and saltwater country of the Miwatj region - a very special part of Australia. The coastline and hinterland are largely unspoilt and still managed by the traditional owners, the Yolngu. The ecosystems of both the land and sea are pristine and provide abundant food subject to the season including yams, fruits, fish, kangaroo, wallaby, turtles and their eggs, dugong, emu, crayfish, oysters, mussels, tortoise, stingray, honey and more. These foods and the land that supports them are a seamless part of the wholistic Creation celebrated and maintained by almost continuous ceremonial activity. There is a constant interplay between the Law, the Land ,the art of the Yolngu, their ceremony and lifestyle
Paintings Buku-Larrnggay Mulka carries a diverse range of products including natural ochre paintings on bark, memorial poles, and statuary. The elders see the act of painting for the outside world as requiring the same discipline as for making sacred designs in ceremony. Accordingly when painting the land they use the land. All painting is done on bark using locally collected earth pigments and a brush fashioned from a few strands of hair. Over the last decade Yirrkala has become renowned both for its monumental bark paintings and its painted memorial poles that have been placed in public and private collections throughout the world.
Prints Buku-Larrnggay Mulka is perhaps the only art centre to establish on site a dedicated and highly productive limited edition print workshop which is staffed by indigenous print makers who work with the artists. In the last seven years the Centre has produced a wide range of linocuts, screen prints, etchings, lithographs, and collographs. There have been approximately 250 small editions (averaging from 15-35) of which 200 have sold out. Following the discipline of miny'tji (sacred design) the designs used in making these works on paper with 'foreign' media are decorative only and not permitted to extend into ceremonial patterns. This allows artists expressive freedom and the opportunity to use bright colours and 'play' with imagery without compromising their spiritual identity. Many of the artists who have prepared art works for printing are older women and their prints are utterly delightful. |
The Artists The Yolngu people are all capable of expressing their sacred identity through art and the artists who work through the Centre are men and women of all ages. The art and craft of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka is drawn from Yirrkala and the approximately 25 homeland centres within a radius of 250km - the geographical area is known as the Miwatj region. Miwatj means 'morning side' and refers to the fact that it is the most eastern part of the Top End. The language groups that comprise the Yolngu nation of the Miwatj region are: Dhuwala, Dhuwa, Dhangu, Djangu, Dhuwaya, and Dhay'yi. The major clans of the Miwatj region are; Gumatj, Rirratjingu, Djapu, Manggalili, Marrkulu, Madarrpa, Galpu, Dhalwangu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarwarrk, Djambarrpuyngu, Wangurri, Waramirri, Dhudi-Djapu, Gupapuyngu and Munyuku.
Weaving and Fibrecraft The age old practice of weaving bags, baskets and mats from the leaves of the Pandanus and the bark of the Kurrajong continues today. Producing the magnificent weavings is labour intensive and involves a number of steps. This is almost always done by women in groups. Men do weave ceremonial or sacred objects but these are not for sale. The main centres of weaving activity in the Miwatj region are Gapuwiyak, Dhalinbuy, Yirrkala, Gutjangan and Dhonydji.
Saltwater Collection: Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country Yolngu culture is based on a strong sense of connection to land and sea. Yirrkala is ancestral land belonging to the Rirratjingu clan. Yolngu have traded and intermarried with Macassans since c.1100-1600 AD. In 1935 when the Federal Government was considering a 'punitive expedition' (massacre) against the Yolngu Mawalan Marika invited the missionary Wilbur Chaseling to establish a mission at Yirrkala. In the following years the leadership of the Yolngu resisted their dispossession by: government; missionaries; potential Japanese invasion; and Bauxite miners. In addition to the Yirrkala Church Panels and Yirrkala Bark Petition, they have used their art to assert their connection to land in; the Gove Land Rights Case; the Woodward Royal Commission; the Barunga Statement,; the Yirrkala Homeland Movement; the Land Rights Act (NT) 1976; the Both Ways education bilingual curriculum; and the world renowned contemporary music band Yothu Yindi. In very recent years the Garma Festival and Wukidi Larrakitj Installations have used miny'tji to continue to rebut the myth of 'Terra Nullius' (that Australia was 'unoccupied country' before colonisation). Under Yolngu Law the 'Land' extends to include sea. Both land and sea are connected in a single cycle of life for which the Yolngu hold the songs and designs. To demonstrate their rights and responsibilities over specific areas of both coast and sea and to protect those same marine environments from abuse by outsiders the landowners combined to make the Saltwater Collection of Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country in 1997. The Collection of 80 bark paintings made by 47 Yolngu artists is featured in a publication of the same name (see Appendix for details).
After a national tour (1998-2001) the Saltwater Collection is now held at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney and forms part of the Yolgnu legal case for recognition of these rights. The Art Centre The art centre is centrally located in Yirrkala community opposite the community store. The old 'hospital' or clinic in which many of the artists had been born was converted to become the original 'craft shop' and over the years there have been a number of additions and renovations. The current centre is an impressive and very functional building belying its humble beginnings. It is comprised of a number of pavilions housing the multifarious functions of an art centre. The additions include: a Museum (1988); screen print workshop and extra gallery spaces (1996); and Yirrkala Church Panels annexe (1998). A theatrette and multi-media centre is proposed for construction in 2004. Museum The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Museum displays a collection of works specifically created for it in the mid-1970s by elders which provides an outline of the kinship structure of the Yolngu world. The jewels of the collection are the two four metre Yirrkala Church Panels (1962-3) that have been described as amongst the most important Australian art in existence. Visiting The Yirrkala community is in the Aboriginal controlled Arnhem Land region, however, no permit is required to visit from the nearby mining town of Nhulunbuy (Gove) or Gove Airport (which has daily flights on the Darwin-Cairns run by both major domestic carriers). Permission from the Northern Land Council (8920 5100) is required to drive to Yirrkala from Darwin or Katherine. The drive from Katherine is about 600km and takes approximately ten hours. The road is impassable in the Wet Season (from Dec-May). Yirrkala is a dry area where alcohol is forbidden without a permit. There are three motels in the vicinity and several hire car firms. Camping is available in designated areas administered by Dhimurru Land Management (08 8987 3992). The art centre is open 8 am - 4.30 pm Monday - Friday and 9 am - noon on Saturday. Entrance to the Museum is $2 for adults. Sourcing Artworks Buku-Larrnggay Mulka supplies high range retail outlets nationally and internationally with small carvings, weavings and bark paintings. It shows solo and group exhibitions with prestigious private galleries worldwide. The Centre won the 2002 and 2003 NT Export Award for its sales of yidaki through the internet. The web site offers specific yidaki (didjeridu) and limited edition prints for sale. Co-author: Will Stubbs AWARDS
*(NATSIAA- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award NIHAA-National Indigenous Heritage Art Award) Bibliography
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