Yolngu power

Yol?u power: the art of Yirrkala offers a comprehensive insight into a group of world-recognised and celebrated artists from Yirrkala and the development of an art movement whose contribution to Australian art - and, increasingly, international art - is profound.

The art of Yirrkala is inextricably intertwined with its cultural, political and social history. For almost 100 years, artists from this small community in Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia have shared art as a means of cultural diplomacy - as a respectful assertion of power in its diverse forms, from sovereignty to influence, authority and control, to energy, strength and
pride. 

Published in association with a major survey at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney,Yol?u power features over 200 works from the 1940s to the present day. It considers the significant moments in Yirrkala's history when artists have consciously altered their practice, developed new styles or embraced new mediums. It also contextualises the work of individual artists within the broader school of artists from Yirrkala and surrounding Miwatj Country.

An essay by the exhibition curator, Cara Pinchbeck, provides an overview of the various innovative art practices in Yirrkala, examiningthe influence of inheritance, family connections, and acts of diplomacy and activism. Ma?arrpa leader and artist DjambawaMariwili discusses the nuances of speaking for Country (land, sea and sky) with the Aboriginal arts specialist Kade McDonald, and the coordinator at Buku-Larr?gay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, Will Stubbs, writes on the power embodied in Yol?u art.

The plates are interspersed with voices from Yirrkala, past and present, offering a range of perspectives on the visual culture of this important art centre.

DjambawaMarawili AMis one of the most important Aboriginal statesmen in Australia. A ceremonial leader of Ma?arrpaclan, Marawili is also an acclaimed artist. He has had numerous exhibitions in Australia since 1984 and is represented in most major Australian institutional collections as well as several important public and private collections. Marawili was pivotal to the Saltwater Collection of bark paintings and the related campaign for the recognition of Indigenous Sea Rights in 2008. In 2010 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the arts, to the preservation of Indigenous culture, to arts administration, and as a mentor of emerging artists.

Kade McDonaldis the former CEO and founder of Agency - a not-for-profit organisationthat celebrates and promotes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, culture and people. He was formerly the executive director of Durrmu Arts Aboriginal corporation and was the coordinator for Buku-Larr?gay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala. He has curated and co-curated over 20 exhibitions, including the touring exhibitionMa?ayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala(2022).

Cara Pinchbeck (editor) is head of First Nations at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. A member of the Kamilaroi community, she has worked as a curator specialising in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art for over twenty years. Her recent publications includeThe Sydney Modern Project: transforming the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2022, contributor)No?girr?aMarawili: from my heart and mind(2018), Tony Tuckson (2018, contributor), Art from Milingimbi: taking memories back (2016), When silence falls (2015) and Yirrkala drawings (2013).

Will Stubbsis coordinator at the Buku-Larr?gay Mulka Centrein Yirrkala, Northern Territory, and a passionate advocate ofIndigenous arts and Australia's unique arts centres. A formercriminal lawyer, Stubbs has been working at Bukuu-Larr?gay since 1995. In 2015 he was awarded the Australia Council Visual Arts Award for Advocacy.

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