Maḏayin is the first major survey of Aboriginal bark paintings ever staged outside of Australia. It presents eight decades of one of Australia’s most unique contributions to global contemporary art.
Maḏayin is the result of a seven-year collaboration between Kluge-Ruhe and Indigenous knowledge holders from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in northern Australia. It chronicles the rise of a globally significant art movement as told from the perspective of the Yolŋu people. Maḏayin presents more than 90 iconic paintings on eucalyptus bark, inviting audiences across the US to discover this inspiring story of the sacred, the beautiful, and the power of art.
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala is organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in partnership with the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala. It opened at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth in September 2022 and toured the United States through January 5, 2025.
Banner image:
Detail of WANYUBI MARIKA, Dhuwa Honeybee-Dhuwa Yarrpany, 2017, natural pigments on eucalyptus bark, 74 x 32 inches, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, the 2017–19 Kluge-Ruhe Maḏayin Commission, Purchased with funds provided by Terry Snowball and Machel Monenerkit, and Margo Smith AM and Tom Cogill, 2022. 2022.0002.001
Drawn from the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia and important museum and private collections in the United States and Australia, Maḏayin was curated by a team of Yolŋu Aboriginal Australian artists and knowledge holders from northern Australia. The idea for the exhibition was conceived in 2015 by Yolŋu artist and leader Dr Djambawa Marawili AM during a residency at Kluge-Ruhe. After encountering the rich collection of paintings from his homelands held at the University of Virginia (UVA), he declared the need for an exhibition that would share these paintings with the world. Over the next seven years Marawili led a team of Yolŋu curators, collaborating with Kluge-Ruhe to create this deep exploration of historic and contemporary bark painting.
The title of the exhibition, Maḏayin, is a Yolŋu word that means both sacred and beautiful. The exhibition includes historic works dating as early as 1935 as well as newly commissioned paintings produced especially for the exhibition. Featuring four generations of artists, it includes some of Australia’s most acclaimed Indigenous artists, including Woŋgu Munuŋgurr, Wandjuk Marika OBE, Naminapu Maymuru-White and Gunybi Ganambarr.
Marawili notes, “It is very important to show these old paintings alongside contemporary works, to recognize that we Yolŋu have enduring patterns that connect us to our Country. I am proud to make this connection to the United States. The art went first—all those old paintings in the museums. What follows is reconciliation and the passing knowledge to America through our art. Because art is important to us. It represents our mind and our soul.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this website contains the names and images of deceased people.
