Wukun Wanambi (1962 – 4 May 2022) was an Australian Yolngu painter, filmmaker and curator of the Marrakulu clan of northeastern

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 ...

Biography

Wanambi was born in Gurka'wuy as the oldest son in his family. His father, Mithili Wanambi, was an esteemed clan leader and renowned painter. Although he was born to a family of artists, he wished to be a politician growing up. When Mithili died in 1981, sacred clan designs could no longer be painted because no one had the authority to paint them anymore. It was not until 1997 that Djunggayi (caretakers and preservers of clan knowledge) taught Wanambi the designs. Wanambi then began painting and created for the Saltwater Country exhibition, re-introducing motifs that had not been painted since his father's death. From this point on, he became a highly renowned artist, dedicated to honouring his father and ancestry through his art. He died in Darwin on 4 May 2022.

Artwork

While Wanambi was an artist who used many different media, he is best known as a painter and sculptor who works with natural pigments on bark and traditional memorial poles, or larrakitj. He also made prints at the Bulka-Larrrŋgay Mulka Centre. He was the Cultural Director of the Mulka Project, the media centre in Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka. Through this position, he advised individuals on what they have the clan authority to depict in film. However, he was also a video artist himself, working to bridge generations by creating archival art that reconstructed ceremonial documentary archives.Lane, Robert Lazarus (2015). "WUKUN WANAMBI'S NHINA, NHÄMA, GA NGÄMA (SIT, LOOK, AND, LISTEN)" in ''Indigenous Archives: The Making and Unmaking of Aboriginal Art,'' edited by Darren Jorgenson and Ian McLean. UWA Publishing. pp. 227-249. Rather than solidifying binaries of past and present, traditional and modern, Wanambi aimed to show the interconnectedness of time as well as the global network through the recording of ceremonial practices. Using both his artwork and his involvement with the Mulka Project, Wanambi advocated for the agency and involvement of Aboriginal peoples to cultivate a true understanding of Aboriginal cultures.

Curatorial practice

In 2017, Wanambi traveled to the United States to join the curatorial team for the exhibition ''Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Art from Yirrkala.'' This was Wanambi's first time working as a curator. In 2018 he served as curatorial consultant on the exhibition ''MIwatj'' at the La Trobe Art Institute. Wanambi believed in incorporating Aboriginal peoples at all levels of art exhibition, and his curatorial work with the Maḏayin exhibition project reflected his desire for Yolngu culture to be depicted the Yolngu way.

Awards

1998 – NATSIAA Awards – Best Bark 2003 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Highly Commended (3D Work) 2007 – Togart Contemporary Art Award (NT) - Winner of Peoples Choice 2010 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award Telstra 2018 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award Telstra

Collections

MAGNT The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...

* ANMM *

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, Sydney, NSW * Harland Collection * Kerry Stokes Collection * NT Supreme Court-Wukidi * South Australian Art Gallery *

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 ...

Art Gallery of NSW 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 ...

* Holmes a Court Collection * Artbank * Manly Regional Gallery * Musee de Lyon France * Colin and Liz Laverty, Sydney *

Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), located on George Street in Sydney's The Rocks neighbourhood, is solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting, and collecting contemporary art, from across Australia and around the world. It is ...

, NSW *

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, UKWukun Wanambi Curriculum Vitae." Buku-Larrnggay Mulka: 2008. *

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia houses one of the finest Indigenous Australian art collections in the world, rivaling many of the collections held in Australia. It is the only museum outside Australia dedica ...

of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Significant exhibitions

* 1998 NATSIAA * 1998–2001 Saltwater * 2001 18th NATSIAA, MAGNT * 2001 New from Old Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW. * 2002 19th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Galleries of the NT, Darwin * 2003 Brighton International Art Festival UK * 2003 Larrakitj Rebecca Hossack Gallery * 2003 20th NATSIAA MAGNT * 2004 Wukun Wanambi (first solo show) Raft 2 Darwin * 2005 Wukun Wanambi Niagara Galleries Melbourne * 2005 ''Yakumirri,'' Raft Artspace (exhibition purchased by the Holmes a Court collection) * 2005 22nd NATSIAA MAGNT * 2005 'Yåkumirri', Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth Artbank: Celebrating 25 Years of Australian Art touring exhibition 4.06-10.07 9 regional galleries from Cairns to Bathurst * 2006 TOGA NT Contemporary Art Award Parliament House Darwin * 2006 Telstra NATSIAA * 2006 ‘''Walking together to aid Aboriginal Health.’'' Shalom College UNSW * 2006 ‘''Bulayi- Small Gems''’ Suzanne O'Connell Gallery Brisbane 2006 'Arnhem Land Ochres' Mina Mina Art Gallery Brunswick Heads. * 2007 Toga NT Contemporary Art Award – winner Peoples Choice * 2007 Galuku Gallery, Festival of Darwin, NT * 2007 ''Bukulungthunmi - Coming Together, One Place'', Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT * 2008 ''Outside Inside - bark and hollow logs from Yirrkala'', Bett Gallery Hobart, Tas * 2008 ''Yarpany - Honey - bark paintings and Hollow Logs of the Marrakulu Clan,'' Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT * 2008 Gapan Gallery - Bendt Prints, Garma Festival Site, Gulkula, NT. * 2008 Galuku Gallery (Nomad Art Productions) - Berndt Prints, Darwin Festival, Botanical Gardens, Darwin, NT * 2008, Wukun Wanambi - Niagara Galleries, Richmond, Vic * 2009 ''Larrakitj'' - Kerry Stokes Collection, Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth, WA * 2009 After Berndt - Etchings from the Drawings, Indigenart Subiaco, WA * 2009–2010 Almanac: Australian Art from the Gift of Ann Lewis AO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW * 2010 ''The White Show'', Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA * 2010 17th Biennale of Sydney, ‘''Larrakitj ‘''- the Kerry Stokes Collection, Museum on Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW * 2010 ''‘Returning to Djakapurra' - A Collection of Poles and Barks from Yirrkala,'' Redot Gallery, Singapore. 2010, 27th NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT - Winner 3D category * 2011 ''One Clan Three Hands'', Niagara Galleries, Melbourne Vic 2011 Telstra NATSIAA, MAGNT Darwin NT * 2011 Gapan Gallery GARMA Festival, Northeast Arnhem Land, NT * 2012 Three, Chan Contemporary Art Space, Darwin NT 2013 Finalist West Australian Indigenous art Awards * 2013 Prized Nomad Art Darwin * 2013 'Found' Annandale Galleries Sydney NSW 2013 Gapan Gallery GARMA Festival, Northeast Arnhem Land, NT * 2014 Gapan Gallery GARMA Festival, Northeast Arnhem Land, NT * 2015 NATSIAA, MAGNT 2015 Enduring Civilisations, British Museum, UK * 2015 Gapan Gallery GARMA Festival, Northeast Arnhem Land, NT * 2015 ''Revolution'', Nomad Art, Darwin NT * 2015 ''Yirrkala Mob, Bangarra Boards.'' RAFT Art Space, Alice Springs NT * 2015 ''Unsettled,'' National Museum of Australia, ACT * 2019–2020 ''The Inside World: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Memorial Poles,'' Nevada Museum of Art and touring.