education resource

No ordinary place: the art of D

avid Malangi

a national gallery of australia travelling exhibition

No ordinary placeNo ordinary place: : tthe art of David Malangihe art of David Malangi

This education resource was generously supported by the Reserve Bank of Australia This education resource was generously supported

No ordinary place: the art of David Malangifeatures bark paintings, ceremonial objects and sculptures made by David Malangi Daymirringu a senior elder of the Manharrngu clan of central Arnhem Land. This resource has been prepared to assist with the appreciation of works of art in the exhibition and can be adapted to suit different age levels. It can be integrated into both the visual art curriculum and Aboriginal Studies. The resource contains:• Images of works of art from the exhibition

No ordinary place: the art of David Malangi and contextual information on the artist

and Indigenous culture.• Questions, activities and discussion points for students.

Other resourcesFurther information on the exhibition No ordinary place: the art of David Malangi is available online at nga.gov.au/Malangi, which includes a version of this resource that can be downloaded. Information on David Malangi’s contribution to The Aboriginal Memorial at the National Gallery of Australia can be viewed at nga.gov.au/memorial. A comprehensive overview of the art and life of David Malangi is available in the exhibition’s accompanying publication edited by Susan Jenkins, Curator, Aboriginal Art and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia. This publication includes essays by Susan Jenkins, Nigel Lendon, Djon Mundine, Margie West and members of Malangi’s family and is available at the gallery shop or online at ngashop.com.auA free exhibition trail is available from the front desk of the National Gallery of Australia and touring venues.

All David Malangi’s work is reproduced with the permission of VISCOPY, Australia

a national gallery of australia travelling exhibition

It is customary in Indigenous communities not to mention the name or reproduce images of, or associated with, the recently deceased. All such mentions and images in this resource have been reproduced with the express permission of the appropriate authorities and family members, wherever it has been possible to locate them.

Gurrmirringu the Great Hunter Gurrmirringu the Great Hunter 1969 1969 Milingimbi, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territorynatural pigments on eucalyptus bark Purchased 1987 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 87.757

In Indigenous culture from Australia a person’s name is not spoken for months or years after their death depending on the cultural practices of their clan or language group. During that time they are referred to by another name. Malangi’s other name is Daymirringu. This extra name is sometimes used, but he was commonly known as David Malangi.

The artist: David Malangi Daymirringu

David Malangi (1927–1999) of the Manharrngu people was a loved senior elder and revered bark painter of central Arnhem Land. He is an important artist to Balanda [white people] because as well as following the old ways of painting the Ancestral stories, he created highly distinctive and visually powerful compositions to represent them. He is best known for his design reproduced on the reverse side of the Australian one dollar note in 1966 when Australia converted to decimal currency.

Malangi with pipe and preparing hollow log for The Aboriginal Memorial 1987 Photo: © Jon Lewis

Gatji

Castlereagh Bay

Milingimbi

Dhäbila

Gilimgarri

Yathalamarra

Ramingining

Dhipirri

Arafura Sea

ArafuraSwamp

HOWARD IS

BANYAN IS

Glyde River mouth

MILINGIMBI IS

Djig

aki

la C

reek

Dhä

bila

Cre

ek

Woolen River

Dhämala

Wurrdigirrmirr

Buwany

Bilimarr Gapuwiyak(Lake Evella)

➞

N

Burridulpum

Gupagupa

➞MOOROONGA IS

Wulngir

Ngangalala

NgurrunyuwaYathalamarra

ARNHEM LAND

Mulanga

Woralngur

Mangbiri

MirrngatjaYirritja moiety Balmbi country

Dhuwa moiety Manharrngu country

➞

The work of David Malangi

David Malangi’s bold style of painting was distinctive. He used thick white lines, large areas of black, chocolate brown ochre and generous rärrk. The imagery in his paintings was presented through blocks of solid colour emphasised with strong outlines. He represented parts of the Ancestral stories in areas defi ned by the limbs of trees, river tributaries or columns. These stories were sometimes reduced to one essential motif.

Find other examples of bark paintings by Arnhem Land artists and compare these with David Malangi’s paintings. How is Malangi’s style different?

The main subjects of Malangi’s paintings were the lands for which he was responsible: Mulanga, the land on the eastern side of the Glyde River which he inherited from his father; Dhämala and Dhäbila on the western side of the river and the lands surrounding the Yathalamarra billabong further west which he inherited from his mother. These lands are approximately 500 kilometres east of Darwin.

Indigenous art from Australia has a special place in this country as the art of the fi rst people of this continent. Indigenous culture from Australia has been expressed through art and ceremony for thousands of generations. Bark paintings are just one of the many forms of art produced by Indigenous people from Australia.

Bark painting is used in closed and restricted ceremonies to reveal the presence and power of the Ancestral characters and events. They are made in the northern regions of Australia and have also been made in Victoria and Tasmania. The pigments used for the paintings are made from natural minerals called ochres. Crushed charcoal is used to make black paint and clay is used for white. Ochres are ground, mixed with glue (sap or egg was used before commercial glue became available) and water to make paint. The paint is applied with a brush that is sometimes made from human hair tied to a twig. The bark is stripped from the tree in one sheet during the wet season when the sap is rising and the bark is pliant. It is fl attened by being dried out under logs or hot sand, or over hot coals.

Today the sale of bark paintings is an important source of income for Australian Indigenous artists from Arnhem Land.

Compare Indigenous art of Australia with that of other Indigenous peoples. What do they have in common? Use the web to investigate.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Malangi used sculpture to represent parts of the Ancestral Story. These sculptures include birds and goannas, who inhabit Dhämala and Dhäbila country.

Rärrk is a design made from crisscrossed lines of pigment which form a dense pattern. Rärrkidentifi es the land; it can also represent a clan, skin, light and spiritual presence, and energy.

The dots on the goanna’s head and tail represent the pattern of its skin. What could the rärrk represent?

Mangrove Goanna Mangrove Goanna [1960s] [Milingimbi], central Arnhem [Milingimbi], central Arnhem Land, Northern TerritoryLand, Northern Territorynatural pigments on woodnatural pigments on woodArt Gallery of Western Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 1988/1099Australia, Perth 1988/1099

The country: Mulanga country

David Malangi was born in Mulanga, an area of rocky cliffs, mud fl ats, mangrove-lined tributaries, swamplands and jungle. Here the great Ancestral Hunter, Gurrmirringu — known as the ‘fi rst man’ — wandered, harvesting fruit, seeds and berries, and hunting goanna, kangaroo, birds and fi sh. After a good day’s hunting, Gurrmirringu sat down by a waterhole in the shade of a white berry tree, to rest and cook some of his catch. Lurking in the tree roots was an evil tree spirit in the form of the king brown snake who rose up and bit Gurrmirringu, killing him. The death of Gurrmirringu gave Manharrngu people their fi rst mortuary (funeral) rituals. The mortuary ritual of Gurrmirringu is the main feature of many of Malangi’s paintings about this land. His depiction of the story on bark was reproduced on the reverse of the Australian one dollar note. Subsequently Malangi became known as the ‘dollar note painter’; he was sometimes called ‘Dollar Dave’.

What form does the Australian one dollar take today? Why did the change take place?

Why was an Indigenous work of art chosen for the one dollar note?

The Reserve Bank of Australia needed images for the new decimal currency introduced in 1966. An image of Malangi’s, featuring Gurrmirringu’s mortuary feast, was chosen for the reverse side of the one dollar note. Malangi and his community were unaware that his bark painting design was used on the new currency until after it was distributed, and appealed to the Reserve Bank for appropriate recognition. The Bank’s Governor, Dr H. C. Coombs,corrected this mistake; Malangi was paid for the use of the image and presented with a specially struck medallion. This was the fi rst recognition of copyright for Indigenous artists’ designs in Australia.

Malangi had rights as a senior Manharrngu painter to paint that part of the Gurrmirringu story which related to Mulanga country. This painting shows Gurrmirringu ‘the fi rst man’ being ceremonially prepared for burial. His body has been painted with rärrk, symbolically connecting him with the land. He is surrounded by men performing ceremonial songs to ensure the Ancestral spirit arrives safely at its fi nal resting place. The men hold clapsticks and didjeridu and are shown sitting with their legs tucked underneath their bodies. Surrounding this immediate group of fi gures are the animals of the story. They represent both Gurrmirringu’s food and the mortuary feast. The white berry tree, which symbolises the Hunter’s life and death, fl anks the scene.

David Malangi used a different grinding stone to prepare each colour. Why would he do this?

What colours has Malangi used in his painting? Reverse of the $1 noteReverse of the $1 notePhoto: Reserve Bank of Australia

Cérémonie funéraireCérémonie funéraire bark painting bark painting Collected by Karel Kupka in 1963 MNAO 64.10.6 Photo: Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie © Photo: RMN — Arnaudet

The Ancestors (fi rst beings) and their stories explain how everything — the land, animals, people, law and ritual — came into being and continues to exist. Knowledge about Ancestral beings and Ancestral time is revealed through song, story, painting and dance. People gain access to this information over a series of rituals — from the least restricted to the most culturally sensitive and powerful — allowing them to slowly take on the responsibilities that come with increased customary knowledge.

The Gurrmirringu mortuary scene gave Malangi more freedom to explore composition because its use was not integral to ceremony. In the painting The snake that bit Gurrmirringu Malangi moved the white berry tree from the sides of the bark to the centre of the composition, dividing the picture into smaller sections which focus on parts of the story. The painting sets the scene before the arrival of Gurrmirringu and his subsequent death and funeral.In the white berry tree paintings Malangi also explored the effects of contrasting colour and abstract forms; rows of white berries alternate between yellow and black leaves; fi elds of dots representing the berries fi ll large areas of the painting. The contrasting colour and fi elds of berries generate a ‘shimmering’ quality similar to that produced by the use of rärrk.With a partner, discuss why David Malangi’s paintings appear to be fl at (no sense of deep space).

What is abstraction? Can we describe parts of Malangi’s paintings as abstract? Why or why not?

David Malangi David Malangi began producing the began producing the foot paintings in his foot paintings in his senior years. senior years.

The foot belongs The foot belongs to Gurrmirringu the to Gurrmirringu the Ancestral Hunter. Ancestral Hunter. The Manharrngu The Manharrngu clan word for foot clan word for foot (luku)luku) also means footprints, tracks or footprints, tracks or guides and refers guides and refers to the Ancestors to the Ancestors who led the way who led the way for sfor subsequent generations. Igenerations. It also means root of a tree means root of a tree which in this painting which in this painting connects the people connects the people to the Ancestral to the Ancestral underworld. underworld.

By painting the By painting the foot and not the foot and not the hunter, Malangi hunter, Malangi has created a bold has created a bold visual statement that represents the Gurrmirringu story in its simplest and most essential form.

Design a symbol with more than one meaning.

Luku (foot) Luku (foot) 1994 Ramingining, 1994 Ramingining, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territorynatural pigments on eucalyptus barkPrivate collection, Canberra

The snake that bit GurrmirringuThe snake that bit Gurrmirringu 1992 1992 Ramingining, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territorynatural pigments on eucalyptus barkPrivate collection, Canberra

Dhämala and Dhäbila country

Dhämala and Dhäbila are diverse natural habitats which include waterways, grasslands and vast muddy plains that are dotted and fringed with mangroves, paperbarks and palm trees.

The Djan’kawu Sisters who created and named this country link clans across eastern and central Arnhem Land. They came from the east, travelling west with the sun, plunging their digging sticks into the ground to create and name waterholes, places, people, language, birds and animals.

At Dhämala they created Mirrmirrngurr Milminydjarrk; a tiny mangrove-fringed waterhole. The sisters hung their dilly bags in a nearby tree to go in search of shellfi sh. The bags contained the sacred law, held by the women. While they were away the bags (with the law inside) were stolen by the men, and from that time the knowledge and law of ceremony was the domain of men.

It was in this area that the Djan’kawu Sisters changed their language to Manharrngu (David Malangi’s language) and gave the Manharrngu people the colour black.

Malangi represented the Djan’kawu Sisters’ Story in several series of barks which depict the animals and plants the sisters encountered, created and ate on their travels. These paintings of the Djan’kawu were made when David Malangi was a senior custodian of the land.

Compare this creation story with those of other religions.

What do these stories tell us about the roles of men and women in society?

Milminydjarrk is the sacred waterhole in Dhämala country and is among David Malangi’s most important symbols. The radiating design symbolises the Djan’kawu Sisters Story, represented through the rays of the sun by which the sisters travelled, the tracks they made between the waterholes and the sites they created. The design also represents the woven conical mat used to give birth to the Dhuwa moiety people and symbolises the procreative powers of women. Milminydjarrk is also the word for freshwater spring. Smaller waterholes connect to Milminydjarrk by underground channels.

Why is water such a precious resource in Australia?

Explain what is meant by the phrase ‘well of souls’ in relation to Yolngu beliefs.Most of the followers of the world’s religions believe in souls or spirits. Choose three diverse religions and investigate where souls or spirits dwell after death.

The yellow rärrk represents water run-off across the mud plains and refers to the cycle of the seasons and also suggests the birthing mat’s weave.

Yolngu believe the clan waterhole is the place where the souls of the unborn dwell and where, upon death, they return. As one of the Manharrngu clan’s most sacred places, rules govern its representation.

The waterhole design is similar to the design painted on the bodies of young men during initiation and is the basis for a sand sculpture used in mortuary rituals.

Djan’kawu waterholes Djan’kawu waterholes 1975–76 Yathalamarra, 1975–76 Yathalamarra, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territorynatural pigments on eucalyptus barkGift of Dr Joseph Reser 1990National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 90.1080

Gurrmirringu’s story, on the eastern side of the river, is depicted by a sand bank where he sat, the food he ate, and his spear and clap sticks. The Djan’kawu Sisters story on the western side of the river is depicted by the Milminydjarrk waterhole, the sacred digging sticks and the fi sh and shellfi sh.

Malangi represents the stories of the Ancestors through the things they used and the land they touched all of which exist today. The symbols remind the people that they share the experiences of the Ancestors.

In the early 1980s Malangi developed a new way to represent his river country. The common feature of these map-like paintings is a shaft of black which divides the image into two columns to represent the land on either side of the river.

The trunk and branches used in the white berry tree paintings now becomes the river and its tributaries in map view. Dividing the bark in this way enabled Malangi to represent in sections, details and episodes of the Ancestral events that created the land. The events are placed according to balance rather than correct positioning on a map.

Australian Indigenous people in Arnhem Land call themselves Yolngu. The Yolngu have a form of social organisation which divides all things into two groups called moieties. The two Yolngu moieties are Dhuwa and Yirritja. David Malangi belongs to the Dhuwa moiety. People of the same moiety cannot marry and certain members of moieties must be careful of close associations.

Malangi at Mirrmirrngurr Milminydjarrk r Milminydjarrk r MilminydjarrkPhoto: Nigel Lendon 1993

River mouth map River mouth map 1983 [Yathalamarra], 1983 [Yathalamarra], central Arnhem Land, Northern Territorynatural pigments on eucalyptus barkPurchased 1984 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 133.1984 Photo: Brenton McGeachie for AGNSW

Yathalamarra country

Yathalamarra and its surrounds are David Malangi’s mother’s country. Its focal point is a horseshoe-shaped billabong surrounded by trees and grasses and inhabited by freshwater life including waterlilies, waterbirds and catfi sh.

Two Ancestral women, Biyay’ngu and Bundul, created part of the country. They had large breasts on their backs as well as their chests and carried twined bags for carrying their vegetable food. At the Yathalamarra billabong the two women used their digging sticks to fi nd waterlily roots, creating part of the billabong with the plunge of their sticks. Biyay’ngu and Bundul taught the Yolngu women how to make the twined bags and how to process the waterlily roots into bush bread.

Malangi spent the last 30 years of his life at Yathalamarra as the ceremonial caretaker of his mother’s country and its many ceremonies.

Malangi’s Yathalamarra paintings are dedications to his mother’s Yirritja moiety and Balmbi clan land and are distinctive for their wide horizontal format and emphatic use of black.

What moiety does David Malangi’s mother belong to?

Women gathering lily roots and seeds at Yathalamarra, July 1937 Photo: D.F. Thomson. Courtesy of Mrs D.M. Thomson, Museum Victoria

David Malangi, in the billabong at Yathalamarra 1996 Photo: Penny Tweedie

List all the things you can identify about the billabong creation story in this painting.Using simplifi ed outlines draw all the creatures you have found in ponds or swamps.

What beliefs underpin Indigenous art from Australia?Graphic symbols are used in bark paintings to illustrate Ancestral events. Create an image using symbols that encapsulate a culturally important event.

The horizontal orientation of the bark enabled Malangi to depict aspects of the ancestral story rhythmically across the picture plane. Yathalamarra Story focuses on the area of the billabong where Biyay’ngu and Bundul reside. Their pool, placed centrally on the bark, is surrounded by waterweed. The column of rärrk surrounding the pool represents Malangi’s mother’s country. The ancestral women are shown by their digging sticks and breasts and signify the creation of this area of country. The circular shape, which is based on a sand sculpture design, refers to ceremony as do the columns which visually suggest the rhythm of ceremonial songs and dances. Malangi’s extensive use of black is an artistic choice and refers to the water, the creatures that inhabit the water and the place of souls.

Yathalamarra Story Yathalamarra Story Yathalamarra Story 1989 Yathalamarra, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory natural pigments on eucalyptus barkAcquired 1989 with Mobil Oil Funds. Mobil Yathalamarra collection Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Collection, Darwin ABART-1118 Photo: Gilbert Herrada

The National Gallery of Australia is an Australian Government Agency

(cover) At the Yathalamarra waterhole 1988 Ramingining, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory natural pigments on eucalyptus bark South Australian Government Grant, 1988Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 8812P90

Principal sponsor

a proud partner of

In association with Bula’bula Arts, Ramingining

This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia.