Celebrated Aboriginal master bark painter showcased in Sydney

By Emily Nicol at Indigenousx

Aboriginal John Mawurndjul, one of the most experimental bark painters in the Arnhem Land region of Australia’s Northern Territory, is presenting the first major survey of his body of work, starting in Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art on 6 July.

Mawurndjul collaborated closely with the museum to put assemble the collection.

Mawurndjul grew up in his country near Mumeka on the Mann River.

Mawurndjul’s work has been shown all over the world including New York, Japan, Switzerland and the Centre Georges Pompidou and Grande Halle de la Villete in Paris.

The artist has also been formally recognised throughout his career winning the Bark Painting Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory four times, as the recipient of the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award in 2003, and in 2010 was awarded an Order of Australia.

This year he received the very prestigious Red Ochre Award at the Australia Council for the Arts, National Indigenous Art Awards, for outstanding lifetime achievement in the arts. .

John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new is on display from July 6 until September 23, 2018 at the MCA in Sydney and from October 26, 2018 until January 28, 2019 at AGSA,
as part of the TARNANTHI Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

The exhibition will then tour regionally to eight locations across Australia until 2020.'

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Reviewer & author: Emily Nicol

Emily Nicol lives in Sydney and has Birra Gubba (North Queensland) and Murray Island (Torres Strait) Heritage.

'She is currently the Producer/Presenter of Making Tracks on Koori Radio