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Painting
Yolngu art is based upon inherited
designs passed down though the generations by ancestral beings
who created the land
and initiated the traditional ceremonies which inform the
culture. Paintings are done on bark, paper and canvas and
in combination with song, dance and sculpture are essential
to the initiation of young people, to establishing new
relationships and connections between people and the land,
or to guiding a dead person’s soul to its ancestral
place. While there is great variation in design between
the works, depending on the artist's moiety (Yirritja /Dhuwa)
and clan, designs overall evoke the power of the ancestors
through the telling of stories that relate to mythic events.
In this way paintings represent the energy of the land
and become an embodiment of the people.
Reference in some paintings is also made to Elcho Island’s
trading relationship with the Macassan people of Indonesia
which took place over hundreds of years until 1907.
Natural pigments (ochres) accessed on the Island are still
extensively used in paintings, although acrylics are being
increasingly used by artists.
Bark painting Charlie Matjuwi Burarrwanga
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Painting on Canvas by Peter Datjin Burarrwanga
Painting on paper by Mickey Durrng Garrawurra
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