Mick Makani Wilingarr
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Mick Makani Wilinggarr (1905–1985) was an Aboriginal artist from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Makani was born at Gatji Creek in central Arnhem Land around 1905.[1] He belongs to the Mildjingi clan and Yirritja moiety, and his language group was Djinang. Makani was a major figure in the development of bark painting in Australia.
Mick Makani Wilingarr | |
|---|---|
| Add a Photo | |
| Born | c.1905 Gatji Creek, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Died | 1985 |
| Other names | Magani |
| Children | Johnny Mayarra |
Early life
As a young man, Makani was jailed for throwing a spear at a staff member at the Methodist mission station where he lived. After his release, Makani became a bark painter and later a high ceremonial leader of his people.
In 1937, Makani met Australian anthropologist Donald Thompson and painted him a series of barking paintings, including the ancestral dog, which is sacred to his people, and the Mildjingi minytgi, a red, black and white triangle symbolizing seasonal rain.
In the 1940s and 50s, Makani established a significant reputation as a bark painter working on the island of Milingimbi.[2] After a permanent settlement was established in 1957, Makani relocated to Maningrida, where he continued to paint from his nearby outstation.[3]
In 1963, Makani was filmed painting at Maningrida by David Attenborough for his film and book Quest under Capricorn.[4] In 2020, the naturalist described the meeting as one of the fondest memories of his career.
Preparation for art
David Attenborough described Makani's process at length, noting:
Makani tends to have high standards for the bark pieces he uses. Nine out of ten times he rejected the barks at a glance. Occasionally he took a tentative chop at a trunk with the axe, but the bark, he said, was too thin, or else it did not separate freely from the wood beneath. The bark of some was cracked, and others had too many knot holes.
Once Makani selected his bark, he would trim off the outer fibrous layers of the bark carefully. With these shavings, he lit a fire on which he threw the curling sheet, inner side downwards, The heart was not sufficient to burn the bark, but enough to turn some of its sap into steam and make the whole piece pliable.
Normally, Makani would work with four pigments. In a dry rocky bed of a stream, he collected pebbles of limonite— a hydrated iron oxide. He assessed their quality by scratching them on a boulder. If they left yellow or red marks, he kept them. From a pit, dug among the mangroves by the shore, he obtained a white kaolin. He grinned up charcoal to produce the black color. However, in addition to the red limonite pebbles, he had another ochre which was a richer deeper red. This was not of local origin, but came from somewhere to the south and was traded from the people in whose tribal territory it occurred. This ochre is accordingly very precious, and Makani kept it in his dilly bag, carefully wrapped in a packet of paper bark. Another necessary material to produce his work is the fleshy stems of the dendrobium orchid, which grew on the high branches of the gum trees.[5]
Art style
Through Makani Wilingarr's artistic journey, he constantly tries to reinterpret traditional designs painted on the body during ceremonies.[6] Specifically, he sought to transform sacred designs into compelling contemporary visual statements. While traditionally these designs used ritual music and dance to express the presence of ancestral spirits, they have been transformed into two-dimensional surfaces, creating a memorable metaphor for the connection between the body in space and the indivisible presence of ancestors.
According to Joanna Bose, Macagni's paintings were the earliest translations of some of the patterns and designs that had previously been painted only on bodies, sacred objects, and rock surfaces. "Major Yorungu painters from East Arnhem Land, such as Madalba artist Marawi Mundukur, produced a large number of complex and detailed works that demonstrate the depth of cultural knowledge, the extraordinary painting skills, and the willingness of these veterans to share their epistemology with the outside world.[7]
As Makani was from the Mildjingi clan, his works are often related to ancestral spirits. This clan design can sometimes referred to the clouds that bring the seasonal monsoonal rains. This is in stark contrast to minytji of the Djapu tribe in eastern Arnhem Land, where the same type of cloud is characterized by lines in a square.[8]
Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales[9]
Art Gallery of Western Australia[10]
Glasgow Museums
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia[11]
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia[12]
National Gallery of Australia[13]
National Gallery of Victoria[14]
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales[15]
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art[16]
References
- ↑ Leslie, Donna. "John Gould and David Attenborough: seeing the natural world through brids and Aboriginal bark painting".
- ↑ Cara., Pinchbeck,. Art from Millingimbi : taking memories back. ISBN 978-1-74174-128-5. OCLC 970818745.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Makani Wilingarr | Art Gallery of NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ↑ DAVID., ATTENBOROUGH, (2017). QUEST UNDER CAPRICORN. CASEMATE ACADEMIC. ISBN 0-7188-9483-9. OCLC 959036590.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Leslie, Donna. "John Gould and David Attenborough: seeing the natural world through birds and Aboriginal bark painting".
- ↑ Nigel., Caruana, Wally. Lendon,. The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story, 1937-1997. ISBN 0-642-13068-X. OCLC 1184527076.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Balsarini, Claire. "Transformations: early bark paintings from Arnhem Land".
- ↑ Allen, Lindy. Ancestral Power and the Aesthetic: Arnhem Land Paintings and Objects from the Donald Thompson Collection.
- ↑ "Makani Wilingarr | Art Gallery of NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "Mick MAGANI". Art Gallery WA Collection Online. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia". Kluge-Ruhe. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "They are Meditating: Bark Paintings from the MCA's Arnott's Collection | Exhibitions | MCA Australia". www.mca.com.au. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ↑ "Mick Magani - Search the Collection, National Gallery of Australia". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "UNSW Art Collection - Mick MAGANI". www.artcollection.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "MAKANI Wilinggar, Mick | QAGOMA Collection Online". collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
External links
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