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Madayin
Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian
Bark Painting from Yirrkala

February 4 May 14, 2023

The land has everything it needs. But it couldnt speak. It couldnt express itself. Tell its identity. And so it grew a tongue. That is the Yolu. That is me. We are the tongue of the land. Grown by the land so it can sing who it is. We exist so we can paint the land.泭

Djambawa Marawili AM, Ma廎arrpa Minytji, 1996

Djambawa Marawili AM,泭Ma廎arrpa Minytji, 1996. Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark, 128 1/2 x 40 inches. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia Gift of John W. Kluge.

Events

  • .
  • March 31: W. Wanambi Distinguished Lecture Flipping the Narrative at the Phillips Collection
  • March 31: Yolnu Ceremonial Performance泭
  • April 1: Matha Nupanmi: A Summit of Yolnu Art and Ideas泭
  • April 2: Gallery Talk

Exhibition Overview

Listed by the New York Times as one of 90 exhibitions to see this season and hailed as enthralling by the Wall Street Journal, 紼硃廎a聆勳紳a term that means sacred and beautifulmakes history as both the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark painting in the United States and the largest display of Aboriginal Australian art in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years.

For millennia, Yolu people around Yirrkala in northern Australia have painted their clan designs on their bodies and ceremonial objects. Around 1935, these designs started to become memorialized as bark paintings. Each painting is a story, intended to be handed down from one generation to the next. Vivid and mesmerizing, the designs represent the kinship and interconnectedness between people, plants, animals, fish, water, and the ancestral land itself.

A special feature of the exhibition is that it marks the first time that Yolu people have been asked to participate fully in the decision-making processes of an exhibition. This recognition of Indigenous authority opens the door for Aboriginal Australian people to tell their story of their culture and heritage, creating a new model for curatorial partnership between Indigenous people and Western museums and opening the door for diverse and previously unheard voices in American museums.

Madayin was organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia in partnership with the Buku-Larrgay Mulka Centre in Australia. The 51勛圖 Museum is the second to host this touring exhibition after its recent premiere at The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth.

For more information, see this .泭泭

In the News

Read the Washington Post's review of泭Madayin,泭&梁喝棗喧;."

Dhambit Munugurr,泭Ocean, 2019

Dhambit Munugurr,泭Ocean, 2019. Natural pigments and acrylic on eucalyptus bark, 78 11/32 x 42 17/32 inches. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.

Naminapu Maymuru-White, 紼勳梭勳聆硃滄喝聆 Milky Way, 2019

Naminapu Maymuru-White,泭紼勳梭勳聆硃滄喝聆泭泭Milky泭Way, 2019. Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark, 84 5/8 x 36 3/16 inches. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. 泭

Mithinari Gurruwiwi, Naypinya, 1963

Mithinari Gurruwiwi,泭Naypinya, 1963. Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark, 55 職 x 22 3/8 inches. Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia Gift of John W. Kluge.