About Yirrkala

Introduction

The name ‘Mulka’ means a sacred but public ceremony, and, to hold or protect. The mission is to sustain and protect Yolngu cultural knowledge in Northeast Arnhem Land under the leadership of community members. The Mulka production house and archive is managed by Yolngu law, governance and culture. Take a look around this website to get to know who we are and what projects, partnerships and opportunities we have going on.

Get Involved

The Mulka Project is actively involved in partnerships with academia, museums and individual researchers with collections and projects significant to our region.  We are very keen to get access to any and all text, images, sound and video related to the community and to work with those who can provide relevant training and experience to Yolngu People.  If you can help and want to be involved, do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email.

We also need financial support. The Mulka Project is beginning to develop products and services, but for the next few years will be dependent on government and philanthropic funding. Current commitments put us on stable footing in terms of staff wages and basic operating expenses for the next two years but we need funds for publication costs, travel, training, payments to non-employees who are involved in projects, etc. As a non-profit initiative of an Aboriginal Community Council, any donations over $2 are tax-deductible. If you can help or have any suggestions, big or small, please let us know!

Staff

We strive to employ and train as many Yolngu of all ages as possible in full time and casual appointments, currently we have male and female staff varying from 16 to 57 years of age. Our facilities are a media training ground for future indigenous leaders. We make audio-visual resources available for secondary students, provide workplace training for graduates, create income streams for Homeland communities, employ cultural advisors, curators, translators, technicians and artists.

Ishmael filming Garma Dhapi autobiography Randjupi Directing "Bayini" in Bawaka
Araluen pans across the horizon as cinematographer of "Bayini"
Lulumu films bunggul performance
Wukun views sacred object at the Australian Museum High school media students Waka views Yirrkala collection at Australian museum

 

   
Yirrakayngu films Garrangali with Ross from AFTRS Vanessa edits local knowledge film clip    
   
Biranybirany dancers get on the camera Ishmael at Bawaka filming filmclip    
   
Yilki edits Graduation ceremony for our multimedia archive Dhamarrarr, Chris and Rob filming fishtrap    

Project Leadership

          

Wukun Wanambi – Cultural Director, is a middle-aged man of increasing importance as a leader of his Marrakulu clan. Wukunʼs status as a ceremonial man of his people qualifies him to liaise with other leaders in the Miwatj region and to handle sensitive materials. This point was discussed and considered very carefully with Wukun and other leaders.

Randjupi Yunupingu – Cultural Director, senior Gumatj woman with broad cultural knowledge and the ability to motivate younger staff. Randjupi leads the archival work, mentoring the project officers. She is a driving force behind Community Patrol initiatives to combat substance across the community. Randjupi has the unique ability and status to be a peacemaker, negotiator/broker, between different clan groups.

Robert Lane - Program Director. Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies (RMIT) and a Bachelor of
Teaching (Deakin). Worked as archivist, producer & editor across broadcast and educational media projects before coming to Arnhem Land as a Media teacher at the Yirrkala Homelands school.

  

Araluen Maymuru - Archive Manager. Arts worker for over 10 years, she coordinates the archive for community access.

Sara Harvey - Multimedia manager. Film and TV Graduate (Swinburne) and ESL teacher (ATA). Postproduction geek.

Dhamarrarr Mununggurr - Production officer.  Editor and cinemtographer who has been a key crew member since graduating our trainee program and going full-time.

Vanessa Gambley - Studio manager. Director and Editor who keeps us on schedule.

Ishmael Marika - Director and Production officer working across audio and video projects.

Watjumi Mununggurr - Arts worker for over 15 years, she is a community liason and translator.

  
   

Facilities

The Mulka physical space incorporates a theatre, media lab, project office, and museum. Using the latest gear community members access traditional music, local video, the internet, family photos, digital cultural assets and production tools. The space is a focal point for both young and old to come together and celebrate Yolngu culture.

The facilities are also available for hire to organisations. Contact Us
 
Entrance to the complex including the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka art centre, museum and the Mulka Project multimedia centre.
 
Looking back the hallway from the foyer to the front door and cases with special museum pieces.
 
Entrances to the public booth and Saltwater Auditorium. The booth has the auditorium's amplifier, a DVD changer, and iMacs, one of which is connected to the theatre system.
  
The public booth provides internet access and access to the audiovisual archives, from 1926 to the present.
 
The Saltwater Auditorium with LCD projector, 3 metre wide screen, 7.1 surround sound, ports at the front of the room for connecting a laptop computer to the system and tiles painted by the children of Yirrkala and the small surrounding homeland communities.
 
The project office has five MacPro workstations for media production.
A Mac Pro workstation with cassette deck, Sony HD VTR, DVD and VHS and 1394 converter, Alesis Firewire audio interface, Samson studio monitors.

Partners

The Mulka Project brings together the rich archives of knowledge in the minds of contemporary Yolngu artists and community leaders and the archives of Yolngu knowledge stored in art galleries, museums, libraries and universities in Australia and around the world. Yolngu culture
has achieved global recognition and Yolngu people are engaging positively with the outside world to overcome the problems that European colonisation has brought to their society. The Mulka Project opens up significant educational and economic opportunities for Yolngu, allowing
them to use their unique cultural resources to benefit themselves and also other Australians.
- Professor Howard Morphy, Australian National University

Project Partners
Within Yirrkala/Arnhem Land
· Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation
· Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation
· Yirrkala Homelands School
· Yirrkala Community Education Centre
· Yothu Yindi Foundation
· Yirralka Rangers
· Laynhapuy Homelands Association


External to Yirrkala
• Australian National University
• Australian Film, Television and Radio School
• National Film and Sound Archives
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• Berndt Museum, University of WA Museum of Victoria
• Association of Northern, Kimberly and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists
• Melbourne University
• Charles Darwin University
• NT Library Services

Sponsors

Financial support from 2007 - 2011 includes: