A brand new exhibition on the Nationwide Gallery of Victoria – Bark Girls: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala – celebrates the NGV’s assortment of greater than 70 bark work and larrakitj (painted hole poles) by feminine artists from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in north-east Arnhem Land. 5 of the 11 artists live and proceed to work out of the Yolŋu-run artwork centre.
The works discover Yolŋu conceptions of the universe, hearth, totems, religious beings and animals in addition to Australian politics. Historically, Yolŋu artists use supplies collected from the land, mixing pure pigments, ochre and sand with conventional and artificial binders to create paint. In recent times, some Yolŋu artists have begun mixing pure supplies with discarded printer cartridges to create technicolour pigments.