Mavis Ngallametta (also known as Waal-Waal Ngallametta), née Marbunt, was an

Indigenous Australian 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 ...

painter and weaver. She was a Putch clan elder and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun,

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

. Her work is held in national and state collections, including 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 ...

, Canberra;

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

, Sydney;

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, Adelaide and

Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. GOMA, which opened on 2 December 2006, is the largest ...

Early life and education

Ngallametta was removed from her family at the age of five and grew up in the dormitories of Aurukun Mission. She maintained connections with her family, learning to weave dilly bags and fruit bowls, made from cabbage palm and

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

, from her mother and aunty.

Career

Mavis Ngallametta was initially recognised for her mastery of weaving in traditional materials. While attending a workshop at the Wik and Kugu Art Centre, run by Gina Allain, she began making small paintings depicting important cultural sites. Larger paintings refer to the changing seasons as well as specific sites including Ikalath, where she collected the white clay Yalgamungken, for the vibrant local ochres; her traditional country, the coastal side of

Kendall River Kendall River is a small river and tributary to the Coppermine River in the Canadian Northwest Territories that connects the Dismal Lakes to the Coppermine River. John Rae (explorer) had a base camp here in 1851. Based on data collected at a gau ...

, which she was able to view from the air; Wutan, a camping site belonging to her adopted son Edgar; and various pamp, or swamps, around Aurukun. Ngallametta painted with traditional materials, including ochres, clays and charcoal, which she collected herself. Between 2011 and 2019, she created 46 monumental paintings. According to Sally Butler: "nearly every major public and private art collection in Australia" acquired one of these large-scale paintings between 2011 and 2014.

Work

Major exhibitions

Queensland Art Gallery , Gallery of Modern Art is hosting the first major retrospective of Ngallametta's work in 21 March – 2 August 202

Public and private collections

, Canberra *

, Sydney *

, Adelaide * QAGOMA, Queensland Art Gallery , Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane * Griffith University, Brisbane * University of Queensland, Brisbane *

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

Collection, Canberra (''Bushfire at Ngak-Pungarichan'', 2013) * The Pat Corrigan Collection *

Holmes à Court Collection Holmes may refer to: Name * Holmes (surname) * Holmes (given name) * Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland * Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer Places In the ...

* The Ray Wilson Collection * The Kerry Stokes Collection * The Wesfarmers Collection

Awards and nominations

* 2004 Community Arts Achievement Award, Western Cape College, Weipa, Queensland * 2013 Telstra General Painting Award

Australia Council for the Arts

The

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

is the arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. Since 1993, it has awarded a

Red Ochre Award The Red Ochre Award is an annual art award for Indigenous Australian artists. Background and description The Red Ochre Award was established in 1993 by the Australia Council for the Arts. It is awarded annually to an outstanding Indigenous Au ...

. It is presented to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement. , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, herself , Red Ochre Award , , -

References

External links

QAGOMA: Explore the work of Mavis Ngallametta

The Design Files

Mavis Ngallametta is causing a quiet stampede in the art market
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngallametta, Mavis 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists 1944 births 2019 deaths Indigenous Australian artists