Crusoe Kuningbal facts for kids

Crusoe Kuningbal (also known as Guningbal) was an important Aboriginal Australian artist. He lived from 1922 to 1984. He came from Maningrida in the Northern Territory. Kuningbal was famous for his unique art style. He used a "pointillist" technique, which means he painted with many small dots. He also created tall, slim sculptures of mimih spirits.

Beyond his art, Kuningbal was a key cultural leader in his area. He sang and performed in important ceremonies. The most well-known of these was the Mamurrng ceremony.

Crusoe Kuningbal's Life Story

Crusoe Kuningbal was born in 1922. His birthplace was near the Liverpool River in the Northern Territory of Australia. He belonged to the Kuninjku language group. Kuningbal married Lena Kuriniya. They had three sons: Crusoe Kurddal, Owen Yalandja, and Timothy Wulandjbirr.

When he was younger, Kuningbal worked at buffalo hunting camps. These were in West Arnhem Land. Before World War II, he and other Kuninjku people moved to the Milingimbi mission. It is thought that he found ideas for his art during his time there. He also found inspiration later in Maningrida.

After the war, Kuningbal returned to Maningrida. He started making bark paintings to sell. He became quite well-known for these paintings. Important art collections bought his works. These included the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia. Most of his bark paintings showed mimih spirits. These spirits were made using black and white dots. The paintings usually had a solid background, either brown or red. The tiny dots formed stripes that shaped the figures' bodies.

Later, Kuningbal moved to Barrihdjowkkeng. This was a small outstation, a remote community. He lived there with his wife Lena and their sons. All of his sons were also artists. This outstation was closer to their ancestral lands. This helped them connect more deeply with the land. This connection was very important to their beliefs and art.

Kuningbal played a big role in his community. He was a singer, dancer, and storyteller. In the 1960s, he began making mimih figures. These were used in ceremonies, especially the Mamurrng ceremony. In the mid-1960s, a man named Louis Allen bought one of Kuningbal's mimih carvings. This was the first time a Westerner bought one. After this, the figures became more popular. In 1984, the National Gallery of Australia bought some of his mimih figures. This was a huge step for his art. His works continued to be shown in many other collections and exhibitions.

He taught his artistic skills to his sons, Crusoe Kurddal and Owen Yalandja. His wife, Lena Kuriniya, was also a successful artist. Her works were shown in some of the same exhibitions as her husband's. In 1999, Lena was the top-earning Kuninjku sculptor.

The Mamurrng Ceremony

The Mamurrng is a special ceremony. In this ceremony, two different language groups come together. They meet for trade and to build good relationships. During the Mamurrng, there are songs, dances, and the beating of clapsticks. People also play the didjeridu.

Participants paint their bodies with red and white ochre. They also wear special cloth outfits and headbands. In the 1960s, Kuningbal created many new songs and dances for this ceremony. These dances were inspired by the mimih spirits and their clever ways.

Kuningbal also carved mimih sculptures for the ceremony. This had not been done before. The sculptures were placed in the center for people to dance around. He also changed tradition by covering his statues with his famous dots. Usually, traditional rarrk designs were used. This ceremony took place in public areas in Maningrida. Community members and visitors saw Kuningbal's sculptures. This led to people wanting to buy them.

Kuningbal's Artworks

Crusoe Kuningbal was a dancer, singer, painter, and carver. He is known for creating ceremonial dances and songs. He also made bark paintings of spirits. His bark paintings did not sell very well, so he did not make many of them.

He is best known for his carved sculptures of mimih spirits. Each of his sculptures is simply called "Mimih Spirit." They come in different heights, like 184.5 cm, 114 cm, and 156 cm. Their round bodies also have different widths, such as 16.5 cm, 12 cm, and 14 cm. The size depends on the single piece of wood used to carve the figure. Kuningbal only used Brachychiton diversifolius trees. These are commonly known as northern kurrajong trees. Artists from the Kuninjku/Kunibeidji language groups still use this tree for their carvings today.

His first mimih sculptures were smaller and less detailed. They were no taller than 1 meter. Their arms were shown with simple grooves. Later, his more famous pieces followed a general style. The tree was cut and carved to have two thin, short legs at the bottom. The body was carved to be long and thin. Sometimes it was curved, following the natural shape of the tree. The arms were carved near the head and ran along the body. The head was shaped like a cylinder, sometimes slightly cone-shaped.

Using natural colors, he painted large black circles for eyes. A black line below them formed the mouth. Then, dots in other natural colors were painted in flowing lines. These dots covered the face, arms, and most of the body. They also went partly down the legs. These sculptures were not signed by the artist. His sculptures were smaller and less detailed than the ones his two sons, Owen and Crusoe, would create after he passed away.

Kuningbal's Career as an Artist

Crusoe Kuningbal started his art career with bark painting. He also created ceremonial songs and dances. In the 1960s, Kuningbal began making carved statues. He was the first in his region to start this carving tradition.

Crusoe Kuningbal mainly focused his art on showing the mimih. Mimih spirits are tall, thin, and delicate spirit beings. They live in Arnhem Land, especially in rocky areas. They are known for being mischievous. In the early 1980s, when he began sculpting mimih spirits, they sold for $12 to $50. Kuningbal continued to make his mimih spirit sculptures for sale. He sold them at the Maningrida Art Center in the Northern Territory of Australia. Peter Cooke, who was the arts advisor in Maningrida, helped a lot with selling Kuningbal's works.

Kuningbal was successful in his local area. However, his sons were the ones who brought mimih sculptures to a wider audience. Many museums and galleries later collected his pieces, as well as his sons' works.

Kuningbal was an innovator. He often added new ideas to traditional art practices in his region. He was the first person in his clan to create life-size carvings of the mimih. Also, he moved away from the rarrk designs common in his area. Rarrk is a pattern of crosshatching. It is meant to create a shimmering effect. This is a common style in Aboriginal art. Instead, he covered his mimih sculptures with small dots. These many small dots became his unique style.

He later passed this style and techniques to his sons, Crusoe Kurddal and Owen Yalandja. Both of them became famous artists. They continued making life-size mimih carvings covered in dots. Kuningbal's sons made the mimih sculptures even bigger and more detailed. They also used smaller and more dots. They also started painting backgrounds and sculpting other cultural figures. After Kuningbal passed away, many people in Maningrida began carving mimih sculptures. This included some women, who were not usually involved in art practices in the region before.

His work is part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) Collection. This collection is at the National Museum of Australia. It holds 2,050 artworks. These works cover 38 years after a 1967 referendum. This referendum greatly changed how Aboriginal Australians were governed. The ATSIAA collection shows the variety and growth in Aboriginal Art during this time. In 1983, Elwyn Lynn asked Kuningbal to create a mimih figure spirit. This was for the J.W. Power Collection of modern art. This collection is at the University of Sydney and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. This was the first work of Aboriginal Australian art to join the Power Collection.

Art Collections Featuring His Work

• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• National Gallery of Victoria
• J.W. Power Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• National Gallery of Australia
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art Collection at the National Museum of Australia
• Art Gallery of South Australia

Important Exhibitions

• 1993-4: Aratjara: Art of the First Australians. This exhibition traveled through Europe. It was shown at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, the Hayward Gallery in England, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.
• 2004: Crossing Country: The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art. This was at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
• 2012-2013: In the Red; On the Vibrancy of Things. This exhibition was at the UQ Anthropology Museum in Queensland.
• 2018: Outstation. This was at the Outstation Gallery and Maningrida Arts & Culture in Maningrida.