Gulumbu Yunupingu (1943 – 10 May 2012), after her death known as Djotarra or Ms Yunupingu, was an

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

artist and women's leader from the Yolngu people of

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 ...

of Australia.

Early life and family

Born in Gunyangara, Northern Territory in 1943, Yunupingu was a member of the Gumatj clan and spoke the

Gumatj language Dhuwal (also Dual, Duala) is one of the Yolŋu languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory, Australia. Although all Yolŋu languages are mutually intelligible to some extent, Dhuwal represents a distinct dialect continu ...

. Daughter of artist and Gumatj leader Mungurrawuy Yunupingu, she was sister to Aboriginal leader

Galarrwuy Yunupingu Galarrwuy Yunupingu (born 30 June 1948), also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, is a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community, and has been involved in the fight for Indigenous land rights in Australia throughout his ca ...

; singer

Mandawuy Yunupingu Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu , formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu; skin name Gudjuk; also known as Dr Yunupingu (17 September 1956 – 2 June 2013) was an Australian musician and educator. An Aboriginal, in 1989 he became assista ...

(of

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and ''List of English words of Malay origin#B, balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as ...

); artists

Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu (1935–2005; also rendered Yunupiŋu) was a senior Yolngu artist and matriarch, who lived in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. She worked at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, where her wor ...

and

Nyapanyapa Yunupingu Nyapanyapa Yunupingu (1945 – 20 October 2021) was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker who lived and worked in the community at Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Yunupingu created works of art that drastically diverg ...

; and several others. Their mother was artist and elder Bakili.

Artworks

In 1999, together with her sister Gaymala and

Dhuwarrwarr Marika Dhuwarrwarr Marika (born 1946), also known as Banuminy, a female contemporary Aboriginal artist. She is a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. She belongs to the Dhuwa moiety of the ...

, Gulumbu was engaged to paint a large

film set A set is artificially constructed scenery used in theatre, film and TV. In the latter two cases there are many reasons to build or use a set instead of travelling to a real location, such as budget, time, the need to control the environment, or t ...

for the film ''

Yolngu Boy ''Yolngu Boy'' is a 2001 Australian coming-of-age film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, produced by Patricia Edgar, Gordon Glenn, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Mandawuy Yunupingu, and starring Sean Mununggurr, John Sebastian Pilakui, and Nathan ...

'', based on the historic

Yirrkala Church Panels Mungurrawuy Yunupingu (c.1905–1979) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist and leader of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people of northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was known for his bark paintings. ...

. In 2012, a painting on wood titled ''Garrurru (Sail)'', weighing a tonne and measuring seven by three metres, was installed at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, at the Hedley Bull Centre for World Politics. Yunupingu appeared in public at the launch for the last time, despite failing health.

Exhibitions and collections

Her art has been widely exhibited all around the world, and was the opening exhibit in the newly-restored $370 million

Quai Branly Museum A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

in Paris. Her work is also exhibited in 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 ...

. In 2018 Yunupingu's work was included in the exhibition ''Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia'' at

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughlin, ...

Awards

Yunupingu she has won many awards for her work. In 2004 she won the 21st

National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...

for a piece entitled ''Garak, The Universe'', which consists of three memorial poles, decorated in her own style, which combines traditional Yolngu designs with her own modern interpretation.

Death

She died on 9 May at her home in

Gunyangara The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Go ...

(Ski Beach), after lapsing into a coma some time before. Given her world-wide renown, her family gave consent to her name appearing in text, but asked that her name is not spoken, and no image of her shown. She can be referred to as Djotarra or Ms Yunupingu.

References

External links

Entry for Gulumbu Yunupingu in the National Gallery of AustraliaBiography in OzArts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yunupingu, Gulumbu 1940s births 2012 deaths Artists from the Northern Territory Australian Aboriginal artists Australian women painters 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists