Djawida NADJONGORLE - Mimi Spirit Hunter

ADG: 2281

Mimi Spirit Hunter, 2007

94 x 20cm, Ochre (natural earth pigments) on bark (eucalyptus tetradonta)

Djawida NADJONGORLE - Biography

Born c. 1943 – c.2008

Region Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) Western Arnhem Land, NT

Country Kudjekbinj (Gudjekbin), Djalbangurr

Language Kunwinjku Language Group: Mayali

Clan Yurlmanj

Social Affiliation Dhuwa moiety, Nakodjok subsection

Dreamings Mimi (mimih) spirit figures, Nawurra spirit figures, Yawk Yawk spirit figures, stories from his father's country at Djalbangurr, from his mother's country at Kudjekbinj and sometimes from his grandmother's country near Manmoyi, including the Nawurra story.

Djawida was born in the bush on his father's country at Djalbangurr in Western Arnhem Land, and is regarded as one of the finest artists in Western Arnhem Land. Djawida’s work is much sought after because of its traditional aspect and dramatic quality. His family eventually moved into Oenpelli where his mother and father worked as buffalo skinners and salters. Djawida went to school in Oenpelli and grew up in the area. Sometimes the family visited their traditional country and it was on those trips that Djawida became interested in painting. He first started to paint on rock, copying existing rock paintings, especially animals and Mimi spirits.

Djawida was taught to paint by his father who painted on the rocks in the Stone Country. He then taught himself how to mix ochres and paint, eventually moving to painting barks, and in the last few years, to Arches paper. He also makes spears and didjeridus. Djawida paints stories from his father's country at Djalbangurr, from his mother's country at Kudjekbinj and sometimes from his grandmother's country near Manmoyi, including the Nawurra story. Djawida lived in a very isolated camp called Gudjekbin, in the heart of the Stone Country of the escarpments. He had no children, and therefore his stories and clan designs have not been passed on.

Awards

1985 Joint Winner major prize - Painting in Traditional Media (Peter Stuyvesant Cultural Foundation Award) 2nd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

Group exhibitions

1984 - The First Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

1984, Aboriginal Art, an Exhibition Presented by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra;

1985, The Second Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

1986, The Art of the First Australians, Kobe City Museum, Japan;

1986, The Third Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

1986, My Country, My Story, My Painting : Recent Paintings by Twelve Arnhem Land Artists, National Gallery of Australia exhibition at the Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra;

1987, Art and Aboriginality, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK;

1988, Dreamings, the Art of Aboriginal Australia, The Asia Society Galleries, New York.

1988, The Inspired Dream, Life as Art in Aboriginal Australia, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin and touring internationally;

1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne; Design Warehouse Sydney through Lauraine Diggins Fine Art ;

1989, Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra;

1990, Balance 1990: views, visions, influences, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane;

1990, l'ete Australien a' Montpellier, Musee Fabre Gallery, Montpellier, France.; 1990, Spirit in Land, Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria;

1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from Arnhemland, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth;

1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Lake Oswego Center for the Arts, United States of America;

1991, Flash Pictures, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

1993, Australian Heritage Commission National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra.;

1995, Twelfth Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

Collections

Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands

Artbank, Sydney

Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin

Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra

The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth

The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

Bibliography

Caruana, W.,1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London.

Diggins, L. 1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Malakoff Fine Art Press, North Caulfield, Victoria.

Johnson, V.,1987, Art and Aboriginality, exhib. cat., Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK. O'Ferrall, M.

1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from Arnhemland in the Collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.

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

Sutton, P. 1988, Dreamings: the Art of Aboriginal Australia, Viking, Ringwood, Victoria.

Wallace, D., Desmond, M., Caruana, W.,1991, Flash Pictures, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

1994, Kunwinjku Art from Injalak 1991-1992, The John W. Kluge Commission, Museum, Arts International Pty. Ltd., North Adelaide.