Dhambit Mununggurr was born in 1968 into a talented Yolngu family, with both her parents having won first prize in the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Her father, the late Mutitjpuy Mununggurr (1932-1993) was one of the finest Djapu clan artists, and he was one of the members of the Dhuwa moiety who contributed to the Yirrkala Church Panels. His paintings are characterised by the elegance of the figurative representations of animals and plants and by the way in which figures are interwoven with one another and integrated into the overall design. He was the first artist to win the award with a bark painting in 1990.
Read MoreDhambit’s mother, the late Gulumbu Yunupingu (1945–2012), won the award in 2004 with Garak, her representation of the universe, and she has been involved in numerous exhibitions in Australia and internationally. In addition to her art, Gulumbu Yunupingu was a senior elder and traditional healer. Her sister Yananymul Mununggurr won the best bark painting at the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 1995.
Dhambit’s late brother together with her uncle Mandaway Yunupingu were amongst the founders of the Yolngu music group Yothu Yindi. Her brother was a world renowned Yidaki (didgeridoo) master. Dhambit’s son Gapanbulu Yunupingu is now a Yidaki player in the Yothu Yindi group, and has recently stepped up to take his uncle’s role as lead singer at various concerts, and is also a member of the Black Arm Band.
In 2004, Dhambit Mununggurr was the first Yolgnu woman to graduate as a tour guide of her country in Yirrkala, and from a young age she had aspirations to follow in her father footsteps as an artist. Her appreciation for the natural landscape including local flora and fauna is evident in her artistic practice, using acrylic on bark painted with a Marwat (traditional Yolngu hair brush).
Tragically hit by a truck in 2005, Dhambit was left wheelchair-bound with a serious injury. Through a combination of traditional healing and Western medicine, her condition slowly improved and she started to paint again in 2010, as well as having started an intensive rehabilitation program in January 2011 at Epworth Rehabilitation in Melbourne, with her goal being to one day walk again.
In April 2011, Dhambit Mununggurr had her first solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery, entitled Mirdawarr Dhulan. The exhibition name, Mirdawarr Dhulan, came from Dhambit’s experience driving through the remnants of the forest around King Lake with her partner Tony, where they noticed the green shoots sprouting from the old burned trees. Mirdawarr refers to ‘the land after fire’ and ‘the re-growth after fire’. Mirdawarr is not entirely specific to these terms, however it fits the concept as it refers to the season of late-March to early-April. This period signifies the end of the wet season with scattered showers, and these conditions bring the long rank grass & mosquitoes to the area. The wind in the south-east quarter, however the air is still hot and humid, and it was during these south-east winds that the Macassan traders used to depart the areas. Foods like vegetables and game become plentiful, with several goose-hunting expeditions into the swamps. Fishing, especially large-scale communal fishing operations tend to thrive during this time, particularly in the parts where floodwaters recede. This includes basket traps in weirs, nets and the gurl in use only in the valley of the Glyde River, Northern Territory. At this time people in the surrounding area generally remain sedentary and live in big camps, as the nomadic movement is restricted by floodwaters.
© Tony Gintz, Alcaston Gallery and Buku-Larrnggay Mulka 2015
