Mangalay Yunupingu

Mangalay Yunupingu's moiety is Yirritja. He is from the Gumatj clan, Rrakpala group and his homeland is Birany Birany. It is roughly 610km east of Darwin, NT.

Mangalay is the senior Gumtaj man at Biryany Birany and has an important leadership role in the ceremonial life of his community. His art production has increased since the early 2000s, and his larrakitj memorial poles featured in the 2003 Garma Festival Larrakitj Installation.

His larrakitj usually depict Gurtha, the Ancestral fire that swept eastern Arnhem Land, from Birany Birany to Melville Bay.

These larrakitj, once vessels of remembrance, now transcend their original purpose, becoming portals to a realm where past and present converge in a symphony of color and form. Adorned with the sacred clan designs of the Gumatj people, Mangalay's larrakitj bear witness to the timeless journey of Yolngu kinship and ancestral identity.

In Yolngu traditional painting, bir'yun is the effect of intricate crosshatched patterns creating a sensation of shimmering brilliance. In Mangalay's art, the diamond designs seem to move, as if they can leap like flames from the surface of the larrakitj- a fine example of the achievement of bir'yun.


Copyright Kate Owen Gallery, October 2024