Untitled Bark Painting

attrib. Woŋgu Munuŋgurr (1884 – 1958), c1930s, Djapu, Arnhem region

Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales

This painting on bark is attributed to Woŋgu Munuŋgurr, a famous Djapu clan leader who resisted incursions on his land before the 1953 establishment of the Methodist Yirrkala Mission. The work represents aspects of Djapu clan Yolŋu social and cultural practice and international trade. It references the long history of cultural exchange between the Indigenous peoples of North-East Arnhem Land and the Makassan traders of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Makassan traders visited the coasts of Arnhem Land in prau (boats) to fish for trepang (sea cucumber) until about 1906 when the Australian Government introduced restrictive licensing arrangements. The traders often spent months each year in Australia and Yolŋu people travelled to, and sometimes settled in, Sulawesi. The influence of this exchange remains evident in the language, dance, art and ecology of Northeast Arnhem Land.