John Mawurndjul facts for kids

Rainbow serpent by John Mawurndjul, 1991. This artwork is at the Musée du quai Branly, Paris.

Balang Nakurulk (born in 1951) was a very important Indigenous artist from Australia. He was known for using old traditions in new ways. His art showed his spiritual and cultural beliefs. He was especially famous for his unique style of bark painting. This style is called rarrk, and it uses a special cross-hatching technique.

About Balang Nakurulk

Balang was born on December 31, 1951, in a place called Mumeka. This was a traditional camping spot for his family group, the Kurulk clan. It is located on the Mann River in Australia's Northern Territory. He grew up in Arnhem Land, which is home to the Kuninjku people.

Balang lived a traditional life, often far from cities and modern culture. His home lands are between the Liverpool, Mann, and Tomkinson Rivers. This area is a tropical woodland with lots of plants and animals. It also has ancient rock art. As of May 2010, he was still living a traditional life near Maningrida. He continued to paint and hunt.

Balang learned to paint in 1969 from his father, Anchor Kulunba. His father taught him the `crosshatching` and `rarrk` techniques. These were used in ceremonies to honor important spirits. Later, his older brother, Jimmy Njiminjuma, also taught him. Balang learned how to prepare the bark for painting. He also learned how to find and mix special colored earths called ochres. He even made his own delicate brushes from sedge rushes.

As Balang grew up, the Australian government started to have more contact with Arnhem Land. This changed the lives of Indigenous people. Balang's art often explored these changes and the new relationships that formed.

Balang's Art Style

Throughout his career, Balang focused on the `rarrk` style in his art. When he was younger, he made very thin, crisscrossing lines in his paintings. These lines, along with layers of paint, created a special "shining" or "shimmering" effect. This effect is called bir'yin and reminds people of wangarr marr, which means ancestral power.

Later, he painted Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent. He showed its body with bright zigzag patterns. Some of his early works showed Ngalyod wrapping around other spirits, pulling them into the ground. These paintings looked like they were glowing.

Balang's later art also included circle shapes on top of the `rarrk` patterns. These circles seemed to "float" and added deeper meanings to his work. In his Madayin series, these circles looked like waterholes. Waterholes are important places that also hold ancestral powers. Balang once said that "Mardayin phenomena are located in water... it is always in the water."

Balang was taught `rarrk` by his uncle Peter Marralwanga and his brother Jimmy Njiminjuma in the 1970s. He started by making small bark paintings. Some people even called him an "artistic genius" back then. In 1979, he began selling his art. Many of his early paintings showed animals and spirits. These included echidnas, saratoga fish, barramundi fish, `mimih` spirits, `yawkyawk`, and Ngalyod. Two examples are Ngaldadmurrng saratoga (1979) and Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent at Dilebang (around 1979).

In the 1980s, Balang started making bigger and more complex artworks. In 1988, he won an award from the Rothmans Foundation. This year was important because his art was shown in many exhibitions in Australia and other countries. He was inspired by other artists like Yirawala and also by sacred places. Before starting new works, Balang would look around his Kurulk clan lands for ideas.

Balang used many different techniques in his art. Some came from his culture, and others he created himself. Early in his career, he painted important figures like the Rainbow Serpent. Later, he started using more "geometric" shapes. He used designs from `Mardayin` ceremony body paintings and made them his own. For example, in Madayin Ceremony (2000), he used hidden triangular shapes in a rectangular pattern.

Balang explained that his use of geometric shapes was not to move away from traditional ceremonies. Instead, it was to avoid showing secret designs in art made for sale. He was careful not to reveal sacred meanings. It's important to know that Balang was a "history painter," not a landscape painter. This means his art told stories and showed cultural history.

While bark painting was his main art form, Balang also made carved figures and `lorrkon` (hollow log coffins). He decorated them with his fine paintings. He also tried printmaking for a short time. All the materials he used for his art, like bark, ochres, and brushes, came from his own land. Just like they are used for ceremonies.

Throughout the 1990s, Balang's art was shown in big exhibitions of Aboriginal Australian art. These included Dreamings in New York (1988) and Aratjara: Art of the first Australians in Germany and the UK (1993–1994). In 1995, Balang also started helping with rock art tourism and caring for the environment.

Mardayin ceremony by John Mawurndjul, 2000.

In 2000, Balang's art was shown at the famous Hermitage Museum in Russia. This was a big honor. The exhibition was well-received, with one critic saying it was "contemporary art" in its deepest sense. Also in 2000, his work was featured at the Sydney Biennale.

In 2004, twenty-two of Balang's artworks were shown in an exhibition called Crossing Country. This exhibition helped people understand Aboriginal art beyond just what was sold in the market. It also showed how artists in western Arnhem Land inspired each other.

In 2006, the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac (MQBJC) in Paris asked Balang to create a special artwork. His ceiling mural, Mardayin at Milmilngkan (2006), is in the museum's gift shop. After finishing this work, Balang was called the 'maestro' by the French president, Jacques Chirac. He was also famously photographed in front of the Eiffel Tower for Time magazine.

His art was later shown in big exhibitions in Basel, Switzerland (2005) and Hanover, Germany (2006). In 2018–2019, an exhibition of his work was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA). This was the first major exhibition of his work in Australia. It showed his spiritual heritage and how bark painting is both ancient and new. The exhibition was organized by `moiety` (two ritual groups) and not by date. This showed the Indigenous idea of time. It also featured special cultural places called `kunred`. This made Balang the first Australian artist to have a major exhibition at two important European museums.

Balang's Legacy

Balang lived on his ancestral lands at Milmilngkan. He took part in ceremonies and used materials from his country for art and daily life. His art has been shown in many exhibitions around the world. These include "rarrk" John Mawurndjul: Journey through Time in Northern Australia in 2005 and John Mawurndjul: I Am the Old and the New in 2018. The 2018 exhibition showed his art from the past 40 years. Balang himself helped organize it by `kunred`, which are special cultural areas. This exhibition was also the first time the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney had an exhibition entirely in two languages.

Balang is known as an important contemporary artist in Australia, France, and worldwide. He became famous because he was open to new projects and shared his culture with researchers and curators. He also had a lot of energy for painting.

Balang has greatly influenced other Kuninjku artists. He taught his wife, Kay Lindjuwanga, and daughter, Anna Wurrkidj, who are now skilled painters. He helped create a whole group of artists and led an Australian art movement. Balang also kept sacred objects with secret designs. If other artists wanted to paint similar designs, they had to ask for his permission. His influence can also be seen in the many awards he won.

Awards and Recognition

Balang received many awards for his art:

• In 1988, he won the Rothmans Foundation Award for best traditional painting. He also won first prize at the Barunga Festival Art exhibition.
• In 1999, 2002, and 2016, Balang won the bark painting prize at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
• In 2003, he won the important Clemenger Contemporary Art Award at the National Gallery of Victoria. This award recognized his big impact on contemporary Indigenous art in Australia.
• Also in 2003, Australian Art Collector magazine named Balang one of the country's 50 most collectible artists. Many art critics praised his work.
• In 2010, Balang became a Member of the Order of Australia. This was for his work in keeping Aboriginal culture and art alive through his paintings.

Red Ochre Award

The Australia Council for the Arts helps fund and advise on arts in Australia. Since 1993, they have given out the Red Ochre Award. This award goes to an outstanding Indigenous Australian artist for their achievements over their lifetime.

Collections

Balang's art is held in many important collections around the world, including:

• Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
• Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany
• Museum der Kultren, Basel, Switzerland
• Musee de Quai Branly, Paris, France
• British Museum, UK
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
• And many other private and public collections.

See also

• List of Indigenous Australian visual artists