IDNO

T.152378.RPT

Description

On Catalogue Card: "S.P. 257. New Guinea. Birds of Paradise. 35mm. Ekta." [Poignant's manuscript]
"258. 22, 23, 24, 25 and 34. Figure of an ancestral being of the dua [sic 'Dhuwa'] moiety. Wood. Ornament: human hair on the head, a string of parakeet feathers tipped with white feathers attached to the chin, a similar but longer string of feathers attached to the upper part of each arm and a pubic apron of bark. Painted decoration: legs and arms red; front of neck and ears, yellow. The remainder cross-hatched with a goanna at front and back. Colours red, yellow, white and black on red ground. 29 1/4. (743 h. 75). Artist. Mawalan (born C. 1908.) Riradjingo group, dua moiety.) Provenance. Gift of Dr. Stuart Scougall. 26.2.1960. Yirrkala, Arnhem Land. quote from Art Gallery of NSW acquisitions. 1960. p.7." [Poignant's typed text]

Place

Australasia; Australia; Northern Territory; Arnhem Land; Yirrkala; Art Gallery of New South Wales

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Mawalan Marika

Photographer

Poignant, Axel

Collector / Expedition

Date

pre January 1970

Collection Name

Poignant Collection

Source

Poignant, Roslyn

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.148696.RPT - T.152693.RPT were located in the drawer file of transparency sheets, numbered C1021/.

T.152364.RPT - T.152388.RPT were located in a transparency sheet, numbered C1021/155.

Related object: Object shown is in the care of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, reference IA7.1960, with the following information: "Figure of Djan'kawu, ancestral being of the Dhuwa moiety. Collected 1960. Artist Mawalan Marika Australia circa 1908 – 26 Nov 1967. Place made: Yirrkala; North-east Arnhem Land; Northern Territory; Australia. Materials used: wood, human hair, bark fibre, parakeet feathers, white feathers, natural pigments. Dimensions: 74.3 cm height. Gift of Dr Stuart Scougall 1960. Copyright © Estate of Mawalan Marika/Copyright Agency.
About: The two carved, wooden Djan'kawu, ancestral being[s] of the Dhuwa moiety, 1960, are painted with ceremonial body designs and decorated with human hair, feathered pendants and bark aprons. Marika's figures are rare, three-dimensional representations of these miraculous ancestors.
Marika was a great law man with extensive sacred knowledge. He led key parts of the Djan'kawu and Wawilak ceremonies, which are the basis for most of his paintings. Marika also painted other subjects, including depictions of Murruruma, a Rirratjingu songman and cultural hero, and hunting scenes. He occasionally painted Macassan subjects, recalling the trepang fishing fleets that worked around the north coast of Australia until they were banned in 1907. Marika was one of the first artists at Yirrkala to begin painting barks for sale, and was also one of the first leaders and artists from Arnhem land to visit the southern Australian cities. Marika strongly protested against the activities of mining companies in his country, through letters written by his son, Wandjuk Marika, to the Federal Government in Canberra. Mawalan Marika wilt be remembered as a passionate advocate for his people's cultural and land rights.
Ken Watson in 'Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2004
© Art Gallery of New South Wales." [source: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/IA7.1960 KK 24/08/2022]