Title
Buluwana
2002
Artist
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Details
- Date
- 2002
- Media category
- Bark painting
- Materials used
- natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
- Dimensions
- 190.0 x 84.0 cm (irreg.)
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 2003
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 64.2003
- Copyright
- © John Mawurndjul, Maningrida Arts and Culture/Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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John Mawurndjul
Works in the collection
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About
Buluwana was a woman of Wumuddjan subsection, and one of the first people to inhabit the Kurulk clan region at Ngandarrayo. The Ngandarrayo site is on a large escarpment outlier. The camping places along this outlier are rich in rock art. During the time of great drought, Buluwana and her family were camped at Ngandarrayo. They were weak from thirst, and close to death, when the group was confronted by the malevolent gigantic form of the Death Adder snake. Buluwana tried to run away with the rest of her family, but was crushed and turned to stone. An arrangement of rocks still remains in the ground as Buluwana's present-day form. Only her head protrudes as a prismic standing stone - the rest ofher body is under the ground. Other human remains lying on rock ledges are said to be those of more early ancestors. The Ngandarrayo site is a place of great significance to people of the Kurulk and Kulmarru clans, and is classed as a highly sacred and dangerous place.
from Hetti Perkins et al., 'Crossing country: the alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2004
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Audio
Buluwana - John Mawurndjul 0:57
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Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
19th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 10 Aug 2002–27 Oct 2002
Crossing country: the alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 Sep 2004–12 Dec 2004
The Dreamers (2009-10), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 09 May 2009–15 Aug 2010
Our spirits lie in the water, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Nov 2014–01 Nov 2015
John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 06 Jul 2018–23 Sep 2018
John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 11 Oct 2018–28 Jan 2019
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Bibliography
Referenced in 5 publications
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Alison Harper, Art and Australia (Vol. 41, No. 4), 'Aboriginal art: aquisitions by Australia's public museums and galleries', pg. 612-614, Sydney, Jun 2004-Aug 2004, 613.
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Hetti Perkins, Art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art, 'Home + away', pg. 1-86, Carlton, 2010, 49 (colour illus.), 279.
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Hetti Perkins, Crossing country: the alchemy of western Arnhem Land art, Sydney, 2004, 91 (colour illus.), 226.
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Cara Pinchbeck, Look, 'The Dreamers: Artists who revolutionised Aboriginal art', pg. 24-27, Sydney, Aug 2009, 27 (colour illus.).
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Judith Ryan, Art and Australia (Vol. 42, No. 1), 'Abstract vision: John Mawurndjul', pg. 64-71, Sydney, Sep 2004-Nov 2004, 69 (colour illus.).
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