Yolngu man and artist Gunybi Ganambarr is the creative genius behind the innovative direction the works in this exhibition have taken. Eight contemporary Yolngu artists from Yurrkala working with found metals and powered tools present miny’tji (clan designs) meticulously etched into the steel and aluminium surfaces of discarded metal sheets and road signs; battered and weathered over time. Ganambarr has pioneered an extraordinary new art form to bring stories of Country and culture to the surface with shimmering aesthetic results.
Murrŋiny is the Yolŋu word for steel. It is also the name by which this nation was known by its neighbours and the first Europeans who encountered them. This name references the shovel-nosed spears made here since pre-Cook times. With this exhibition, old signs are new again.
Curated by Paul Johnstone and Matt Ward from Salon Art Projects.
‘Murrŋiny A story of metal from the east’ installation view. Courtesy Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Northern Territory
Northern Centre for Contemporary Art
7 August to 25 September 2021
Northern Territory
