WANDJUK MARIKA, OBE

(1927-1987)

Clan: Riritjingu

The artist Wandjuk Marika was clearly the most influential cultural figure to emerge from Arnhem Land in recent times.

Not only was he a painter of sacred stories, he was recognised as an orator and poet, a gifted singer and yidaki player, an accomplished linguist, an actor, and finally a builder of bridges between the Indigenous cultures and mainstream Australia as the Chair of the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts from 1976-9.

His life spans the time before the 'discovery' of the Yolngu (the Indigenous people of North East Arnhem Land) to the occupation by Christian missionaries and miners of the very land at Yirrkala which reverted to Indigenous control in the 1970s. Throughout that amazing period he was a quiet force to be reckoned with. As a young man his linguistic skills were co-opted for Bible translation but he used his literacy in English to aid the earliest of the land-rights movements. The results may be seen in the famous 'bark petition' to Federal Parliament in 1963, in which his father Mawalan and uncle Mathaman were involved as Riritjingu clan elders.

From these traditional clan leaders, Wandjuk inherited the right to paint the major themes of his work - the travels of the Djang'kawu sisters and related myths.

His work is represented in many public galleries overseas and within Australia, particularly in Canberra at the National Gallery of Australia where his later paintings may be studied.

Text provided by Anthony Wallis, Director, Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited