Djalu Gurruwiwi

Arnhem Land Artist Djalu Gurruwiwi was born on Wirriku, one of the smaller of the Wessel Islands, a group of islands off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. He often paints his country, Garrimala, which is the place where all his ancestors came from before spreading around the place. He also paints the Wessel Islands, country that is good for hunting turtle, as well as the deeper water that holds sacred and secret knowledge for the Galpu clan. He depicts the water as parallel curves of minyinti -sacred cross hatched design: “In the sea country there are many ritual ceremonies, they teach us who the country belongs to.”

Djalu Gurruwiwi’s work has been shown in group exhibitions all over Australia including the 1990 ‘Spirit in Land: Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land’ at the National Gallery of Victoria, the ‘1994 Power of the Land: Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art’ at the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Eleventh and Twelfth National Aboriginal Art Award, the most important exhibition of Indigenous art held annually at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin.

His work is represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.
Subject & Themes
Mururruma rock associated with the green turtle, freshwater Javan file snake-djaykung (sacred totem to the Galpu clan), Bol’ngu the Thunderman, Wirriku -Wessel Islands, Witditj -Wagilag Sisters.
Collections
Mururruma rock associated with the green turtle, freshwater Javan file snake-djaykung (sacred totem to the Galpu clan), Bol’ngu the Thunderman, Wirriku -Wessel Islands, Witditj -Wagilag Sisters.
Group Exhibitions
1990 Spirit in Land, Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria.

1994 Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria.

1994 The Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

1995 Miny’tji Buku Larrnggay, Paintings from the East, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

1995 The Twelfth National Aboriginal Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

1997 The Painters of The Wagilag Sisters Story 1937-1997 National gallery of Australia 1997.

1998 4th National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Old Parliament House, Canberra.

2000 Saltwater ,Yirrkala Bark paintings of Sea Country Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Bibliography
Saltwater Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country, Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre, Jenny Isaacs Publishing 1999.

Caruana C & Lendon N. The Painters of The Wagilag Sisters Story 1937 – 1997 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 1997. The 4th National Indigenous Heritage Art Award Catalogue Australian Heritage Commission 1998. Arnold, J. et al, Nambara Art, promo booklet, 1990, Colemans Printing Nhulunbuy.

Ryan, J., 1990, Spirit in Land, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.