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Yanggarriny Wunungmurra (1932–2003) was an artist, yidaki player and leader of the Dhalwangu clan of the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Career

In 1963 he was one of the major contributors to the Yirritja side of the Yirrkala Church Panels. Considered one of the seminal figures in the Yolngu bark painting movement, Wunungmurra's work is included in most major collections of Aboriginal Australian art.

Wunungmurra was also a celebrated yidaki player. Alan Brissenden and Keith Glennon describe him as "a meticulous, and complete, artist, not only a virtuoso of the didgeridoo, but also a fine singer, dancer and bark painter".

In 1997, Wunungmurra's work Gangan was awarded first prize in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Yanggarriny Wunungmurra v. Peter Stripes Fabrics

In 1983, Wunungmurra was the first Aboriginal artist to have his copyright recognized in an Australian court. Wunungmurra utilized the support of the recently formed Aboriginal Artists Association to take legal action against the copyright violation. The case, Yanggarriny Wunungmurra v. Peter Stripes Fabrics was won against the Australian Copyright Act 1968, which had previously not considered Aboriginal Australian designs to be "original" and thereby protected under copyright in Australia.

In 1981, Wunungmurra took Peter Stripes Fabrics to the Australian Federal Court for unauthorised use of his painting, Long-necked Freshwater Tortoises by the Fish Trap at Gaanan (1975). The case hinged on whether the painting constituted "traditional designs" or whether it constituted the original work of the artist. In his statement to the court, Yanggarriny noted that he had learned the design from Gawirrin Gumana's father (Birrikitji Gumana) and that both men had the authority to paint the design. However, he also maintained that anyone could tell that the painting was his by the way the tortoise was drawn, which was like his signature. Elizabeth Burns Coleman argues that "the case was won by the stress that was placed on Wunungmurra's additions to and differences from traditional design... As such, the argument emphasized what was original in his work, rather than what was traditional".

Collections

• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Art Gallery of South Australia
• The British Museum
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
• National Gallery of Victoria
• National Museum of Australia

Significant exhibitions

• 1995: Miny'tji Buku-Larrnggay: Paintings from the East. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
• 1999-2001: Saltwater: Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country. Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra; John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, Perth; Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney; Museum of Modern Art Heide; Melbourne; Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs.

Family

Yanggarriny's son, Nawurapu Wunungmurra, is an artist, whose work is on display in the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide.

Death

In Yanggarriny's death in 2003, he passed on his knowledge of his own clan's saltwater imagery to Wukun Wanambi, who had been unable to learn of his own culture due to his father's (Mithili Wanambi) passing prior to sharing this knowledge.

References

1. Larrakitj : Kerry Stokes Collection. Australian Capital Equity. West Perth, W.A.: Australian Capital Equity. 2011. ISBN 978-0-9577906-8-1. OCLC 732358741.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
2. Brissenden, Alan. (2010). Australia dances : creating Australian dance, 1945-1965. Glennon, Keith, 1923-1983. Kent town, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-86254-802-2. OCLC 436998445.
3. "Telstra NATSIAA Winners". MAGNT. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
4. Van den Bosch, Annette; Rentschler, Ruth (Summer 2009). "Authorship, Authenticity, and Intellectual Property in Australian Aboriginal Art: Journal of Arts Management, Law & Society". Journal of Arts Management, Law & Society. 39 (2): 117–131. doi:10.3200/JAML.39.2.117-131.
5. Russo, Katherine E. (2010). Practices of proximity : the appropriation of English in Australian indigenous literature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-2161-2. OCLC 731223122.
6. Coleman, Elizabeth Burns, 1961- (2005). Aboriginal art, identity and appropriation. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. ISBN 1-351-96131-4. OCLC 619635015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
7. "Barama and Lany'tjung: Yirritja creation story, (circa 1963) by Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
8. st, Visit North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000 Australia T. +61 8 8207 7000 E. infoartgallery sa gov au www agsa sa gov au AGSA Kaurna yartangka yuwanthi AGSA; l, s on Kaurna; Maps, Open in. "Yaŋgarriny Wunuŋmurra". AGSA - Online Collection. Retrieved 22 April 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. "painting". British Museum. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
10. "Gangan - Yanggarriny Wunungmurra". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
11. "Yanggarriny Wunungmurra | Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
12. "Collection Explorer". National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
13. "Miny'tji Buku Larrnggay (Paintings from the East) by various Yolngu artists from Yirrkala | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
14. Saltwater : Yirrkala bark paintings of sea country : recognising indigenous sea rights. Neutral Bay, N.S.W.: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in association with Jennifer Isaacs Pub. 1999. ISBN 0-646-37702-7. OCLC 44447175.
15. Keen, Suzie (16 February 2020). "Explore the Elder Wing with a curator's eye". SA Life. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
16. Latimore, Jack (5 May 2022). "Renowned Yolngu artist Wanambi dies". global.factiva.com. Retrieved 5 May 2024.

• Australian Aboriginal artists
• 2003 deaths
• 1932 births