Madayin
Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian
Bark Painting from Yirrkala

February 4 鈥 May 14, 2023

鈥淭he land has everything it needs. But it couldn鈥檛 speak. It couldn鈥檛 express itself. Tell its identity. And so it grew a tongue. That is the Yol艐u. 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.鈥澨

Djambawa Marawili AM, Ma岣廰rrpa Miny鈥檛ji, 1996

Djambawa Marawili AM,听Ma岣廰rrpa Miny鈥檛ji, 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 鈥淔lipping the Narrative鈥 at the Phillips Collection
  • March 31: Yolnu Ceremonial Performance听
  • April 1: Matha Nupanmi: A Summit of Yolnu Art and Ideas听
  • April 2: Gallery Talk

Exhibition Overview

Listed by the New York Times as one of 90 exhibitions to see this season and hailed as 鈥渆nthralling鈥 by the Wall Street Journal, 惭补岣廰测颈苍鈥攁 term that means sacred and beautiful鈥攎akes 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, Yol艐u 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 Yol艐u 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-Larr艐gay Mulka Centre in Australia. The 麻豆原创 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 .听听

In the News

Read the Washington Post's review of听Madayin,听&辩耻辞迟;."

Dhambit Munu艐gurr,听Ocean, 2019

Dhambit Munu艐gurr,听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, 惭颈濒艐颈测补飞耻测 鈹 Milky Way, 2019

Naminapu Maymuru-White,惭颈濒艐颈测补飞耻测听鈹偺Milky听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. 听

Mithinari Gurruwiwi, Naypinya, 1963

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