The ''Aboriginal Memorial'' is a work of
contemporary Indigenous Australian art
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art (also known as contemporary Aboriginal Australian art) is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded a ...
from the late 1980s, and comprises 200 decorated
hollow log coffin
A memorial pole, also known as hollow log coffin, burial pole, lorrkkon, ḻarrakitj, or ḏupun, is a hollow tree trunk decorated with elaborate designs, made by the Yolngu people, Yolngu and Bininj peoples of Arnhem Land in the Northern Ter ...
s (also known as memorial poles, dupun, ḻarrakitj and other terms). It was conceived by
Djon (John) Mundine in 1987–88 and realised by 43 artists from
Ramingining
Ramingining is an Aboriginal Australian community of mainly Yolngu people in the Northern Territory, Australia, east of Darwin. It is on the edge of the Arafura Swamp in Arnhem Land. Wulkabimirri is a tiny outstation (homeland) nearby, and Mu ...
and neighbouring communities of Central
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
, in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. Artists who participated in its creation included
David Malangi
David Malangi (192719 June 1999) was an Indigenous Australian Yolngu artist from the Northern Territory. He was one of the most well known bark painters from Arnhem Land and a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. He wa ...
and
George Milpurrurru
George Milpurrurru (1934–1998) was an Australian Aboriginal artist known for his bark paintings.
Biography
Milpurrurru was born in 1934 and raised in central Arnhem Land, specifically Ganalbingu land, where he learned his artistry. He came ...
.
The work was created to coincide with the
Australian Bicentenary
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788.
History
The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...
and commemorates those
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
who died as a result of European settlement. It was acquired by the
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
, where it is on permanent display. Its first exhibition was at the
Sydney Biennale
The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
in 1988, and it was the centrepiece of an exhibition of Indigenous art at Russia's
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
in 2000.
Creation
In 1988, Australia marked 200 years since its first official white settlement, established by Captain
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales.
Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...
on
Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
in 1788. While some Indigenous Australians protested the event, and referred to the occasion as
Invasion Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Jack ...
rather than
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...
, a group of Indigenous artists from
Ramingining
Ramingining is an Aboriginal Australian community of mainly Yolngu people in the Northern Territory, Australia, east of Darwin. It is on the edge of the Arafura Swamp in Arnhem Land. Wulkabimirri is a tiny outstation (homeland) nearby, and Mu ...
in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
decided to create an artwork to mark the anniversary.
[Caruana, p. 226.] The project was initiated by
Djon Mundine
Djon Mundine (born 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian curator, writer, artist and activist.
Early life
Djon was born in Grafton, New South Wales in 1941. He is one of 11 children born to Roy Mundine and Olive Bridgette Mundine (nee Donovan). ...
, an Indigenous art advisor and curator, who was working at Ramingining prior to the Bicentenary.
A small group of artists including
David Malangi
David Malangi (192719 June 1999) was an Indigenous Australian Yolngu artist from the Northern Territory. He was one of the most well known bark painters from Arnhem Land and a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. He wa ...
,
Paddy Dhathangu,
George Milpurrurru
George Milpurrurru (1934–1998) was an Australian Aboriginal artist known for his bark paintings.
Biography
Milpurrurru was born in 1934 and raised in central Arnhem Land, specifically Ganalbingu land, where he learned his artistry. He came ...
and
Jimmy Wululu decided the form of the project, but ultimately 43 artists from the region contributed pieces to the ''Memorial''.
The work takes the form of 200
hollow log coffin
A memorial pole, also known as hollow log coffin, burial pole, lorrkkon, ḻarrakitj, or ḏupun, is a hollow tree trunk decorated with elaborate designs, made by the Yolngu people, Yolngu and Bininj peoples of Arnhem Land in the Northern Ter ...
s, known as ''dupun'': the number was chosen to mark the years of European settlement. Such coffins are a form of
funerary art
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...
and are used throughout the Arnhem Land region for reburial ceremonies.
The items displayed in ''Aboriginal Memorial'', however, were created for the purpose of the artwork and have not at any stage contained human remains, nor been used in reburial ceremonies.
The work was intended "to commemorate the thousands of Aboriginal people who had perished in the course of European settlement, and for whom it has not been possible to conduct appropriate
mortuary rites".
The intention behind the work drew attention in 2005 when Melbourne newspaper ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' ran an editorial asking whether it might be appropriate to commemorate Aboriginal resistance to white settlement at the
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...
, and to move the ''Aboriginal Memorial'' to that location as part of that commemoration.
Log coffins are made from trees that have been naturally hollowed out by termites. They are cut, cleaned and then painted with natural pigments during a ceremonial camp.
The ''Aboriginal Memorial'' decorations reflect traditional clan designs and significant
dreamings for which the artists had responsibility.
Exhibition and critical reception
![Aboriginal Memorial May 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Aboriginal_Memorial_May_2018.jpg)
The creators of the ''Aboriginal Memorial'' always intended that it be publicly displayed,
and in 1987 the work was offered to the
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
, which helped fund its completion. After being first exhibited at the
Sydney Biennale
The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
in 1988, it was moved to the National Gallery, its present home.
In 2000, the ''Memorial'' formed the centrepiece of a major exhibition of Australian Indigenous art held in the prestigious
Nicholas Hall at the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
in Russia. The exhibition received a positive reception from Russian critics, one of whom wrote:
This is an exhibition of contemporary art, not in the sense that it was done recently, but in that it is cased in the mentality, technology and philosophy of radical art of the most recent times. No one, other than the Aborigines of Australia, has succeeded in exhibiting such art at the Hermitage.
Described as an icon of the National Gallery's collection, and "one of the outstanding works of art to have been created in Australia",
the memorial is laid out with a central pathway between the log-coffins representing the passage of the
Glyde River Glyde may refer to:
* George Glyde (1821–1898), settler of Western Australia
* Henry George Glyde (1906–1998), Canadian painter
* Lavington Glyde (1825–1890), South Australian politician, perhaps not related to Samuel and William
* Rosemary G ...
through central
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
.
In the late 2000s, the work was included in the list of the 20 most valuable artworks in the Gallery's collection, and was the only Australian artwork to make that list. At that time, of the 20 most valuable Australian artworks in the collection, it was also the only one by Indigenous artists.
Andrew Sayers
Andrew George Sayers (29 June 1957 – 11 October 2015) was an Australian curator and painter, who was the first director of Australia's National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to 2010, and director of the National Museum of Australia from 2010 to ...
, former head of Australia's
National Portrait Gallery and the
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...
, described the work as "among the most profound works of art to emerge from the last 20 years".
In the late 2000s, the work was temporarily withdrawn from display to undergo significant conservation work. Completed in October 2009, the restoration was followed by the work's relocation in 2010 to the entrance area of the new gallery building,
where it was intended to be the first work seen by visitors to the gallery. ''Aboriginal Memorial'' was relocated to level 1 of the NGA in June 2022. The gallery stated that this move placed the work in the "heart of the National Gallery, helping make the most important work in the national collection central to all visitors’ art experience".
References
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book, editor-last=Croft, editor-first= Brenda L, date=2007, title=Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial 2007, publisher=National Gallery of Australia, ISBN=978-0-642-54133-8 (
National Indigenous Art Triennial
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
catalogue by curator)
1988 sculptures
Australian Aboriginal art
Australian artist groups and collectives
Collections of the National Gallery of Australia