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Object Monday: Australian Bark Painting

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Australian Bark Painting
News Archive: 

This painting is entitled "Goannas Near Crocodile Island" and it depicts goannas, fish, and a totemic tree found near Crocodile Island. The dotted circles represent the fruit of the trees, which are edible only when the skin has been peeled off. There are two “shovelnose” spears, one at either side of the painting. The painting is created with ochre pigments on eucalyptus bark. 

The painting is attributed to “Yambal,” likely referring to the artist Dick Durrurrnga Yambal, from the Arnhem Land region of Northern Australia born in 1936.

Goannas are carnivorous reptiles found in Australia and Southeast Asia. The goanna is frequently featured in Australian Aboriginal art and stories. The fish are probably threadfin salmon. The Crocodile Islands, where the artist is from, are a chain of several islands belonging to Australian Aboriginal groups off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Arafua Sea in Northern Australia. Aboriginal people have lived in the area for more than 40,000 years. 

This painting is part of a collection received from the Albuquerque Museum in 1984. Check out the exhibit catalog Art of the First Australians
by John Carrick (ed), for images and information about the art and objects in the collection.

Additional Resources:
Check out this video and website from the National Museum of Australia featuring artists and works from their collection of bark paintings:
https://youtu.be/52T_rnZk378
https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/old-masters

Further Reading:
Carrick, John. Art of the First Australians: An Exhibition of Aboriginal Painting Sculpture and Artefacts of the Past Two Hundred Years. 1976.
Groger-Wurm, Helen M. Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings and Their Mythological Interpretation. Canberra, 1973. 

Catalog #: 84.2.35
Culture: Aboriginal Australian: Liyagalawumirri Group, Dua Moiety
Artist: Yambal
Origin: Millingimbi, Australia
Date: Unknown
Collection: Ethnology
 

Post By: Lauren Fuka

Australian Bark Painting