IDNO

T.152385.RPT

Description

On Catalogue Card: "S.P. 257. New Guinea. Birds of Paradise. 35mm. Ekta." [Poignant's manuscript]
"31, 32, 33. Figure of an ancestral being of the jiridja [sic 'Yirritja'] moiety. Wood. Ornament: human hair on the head, a string of parakeet feathers is attached to the chin, a similar but longer string of feathers is attached to the upper part of each arm, a pubic apron made of bark. Painted decoration: head and legs yellow. Crosshatched on the forehead and diamond patterned with cross - hatching on front and the back of the body. Colours red, yellow and white and black on red ground. 30 1/2 ins. .775 high. Artist: Mungarawoi [sic 'Mungurrawuy'] (Born c. 1907) Gumaidj Group, Jiridja moiety. Prov as above. Source as above p.9. [Gift of Dr. Stuart Scougall. 26.2.1960. Yirrkala, Arnhem Land. quote from Art Gallery of NSW acquisitions. 1960]." [Poignant's typed text]

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Mungurrawuy Yunupinu

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 IA9.1960, with the following information: "Figure of an Ancestral Being of the Yirritja moiety
circa 1960. Artist: Mungurrawuy Yunupiŋu. Australia circa 1907 – 12 Apr 1979. Made: Yirrkala, North-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. wood, human hair, parakeet feathers, white feathers, bark, red, yellow, white, black on red ground. Dimensions: 77.5 h. Credit: Gift of Dr Stuart Scougall 1960. Copyright © Estate of Munggurrawuy Yunupingu, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre." [source: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/IA9.1960 [KK 24/08/2022]

Biographical reference: "Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu
Australia
Born: Yirrkala, North-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia circa 1907
Died: 12 Apr 1979
Language group: Gumatj, Arnhem region
Biography
Biranybirany on Caledon Bay is the ancestral country for the three branches of the Gumatj clan, and is home to the major Gumatj totems: Baru (saltwater crocodile) and Gurtha (fire). It is also the homeland of the Yunupingu family. In 1959 – when Munggurawuy Yunupingu painted the Gumatj ancestral fire story on four large barks – he was ceremonial leader, custodian of knowledge and keeper of the law for the Gumatj clan of the Yirritja moiety in north-east Arnhem Land.
Munggurrawuy assisted Birrikitji Gumana and Narritjin Maymuru in painting the Yirritja church panels now housed in the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Museum at Yirrkala. He painted Yirritja designs on a bark petition presented to Federal Parliament in 1963, which outlined Yolngu grievances over the intrusion of mining interests in Arnhem Land. Munggurrawuy's children – particularly Gaymala, Galarrwuy, Mandawuy Barrupu, Gulumbu and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu – have also distinguished themselves as Yolngu leaders in politics and the arts.
Ken Watson in 'Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2014." [source: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/yunupiu-mugurrawuy KK 24/08/2022]