The Mulka Project presents Djarraṯawun for Enlighten

Visitors will be transported to the Yolŋu Country of Northeast Arnhem Land as part of the National Gallery’s illuminations for Enlighten.

The National Gallery has commissioned a new projection and sound-based work by The Mulka Project, titled Djarraṯawun, to illuminate the building’s iconic, 60m façade for the 2023 Enlighten Festival.

The Mulka Project is a collective of Yolŋu digital artists based out of the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala, Yolŋu Country, in North East Arnhem Land. ‘Mulka’, meaning a sacred but public ceremony and to hold or protect, was officially established in 2008 to sustain and protect Yolŋu cultural knowledge and language under the leadership of community elders.

The Mulka Project’s Inaugural Cultural Director, Dr Marika, said ‘we want to bring knowledge of the past to the present, to preserve it for future generations and to understand what meaning it has in the present day and age’.

Titled Djarraṯawun – which means a continuous cycle of natural light – the commission will be projected onto the façade of the National Gallery’s western side from March 3 to 13.

Creative Director and lead artist on Djarraṯawun, Ishmael Marika, said ‘The three major elements of Djarraṯawun are walu (sunlight), makarran (lightning) and gurtha (fire). These elements intertwine with songlines and atmospheric soundscapes immersing audiences in the Yolŋu world of Northeast Arnhem Land’.

‘Under Yolngu Law the “Land” extends to include the sea and our culture is based on a strong sense of connection to both.

‘The audio elements of Djarraṯawun were recorded and produced by our studio engineer, Arian Pearson, with songlines performed by senior elders and archival recordings. Other artists on the collaborative project include Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu, Sid Yunupiŋu and Bec Charlesworth.’

Barbara Jean Humphreys Assistant Director, First Nations and Head Curator, First Nations Art Bruce Johnson McLean said The Mulka Project’s Djarraṯawun presents a unique opportunity for audiences to experience art and culture from Yolŋu Country, which has a rich history of producing world-renowned art.

‘Yolŋu art is based on cultural knowledge and traditions that have existed since time immemorial, yet today artists working from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre and the Mulka Project studio are among the most innovative in Australian contemporary art. Their works are renowned nationally, and increasingly internationally, for exciting approaches to and interpretations of traditional knowledges and practices,’ Johnson McLean said.

‘The art emerging from this region in the mid-1950s was a catalyst in the non-Aboriginal art world’s realisation that First Nations art is a unique and profound independent art tradition – the equal of any other global form.’

The Mulka Project: Djarraṯawun will be on display from 3 – 13 March, daily from 8pm to 11pm. Free.

Curator: Bruce Johnson McLean, Wierdi | Birri Gubba people, Barbara Jean Humphreys Assistant Director, First Nations Engagement and Head Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

About The Mulka Project
The name ‘Mulka’ means a sacred but public ceremony, and, to hold or protect.
The mission is to sustain and protect Yolŋu cultural knowledge in Northeast Arnhem Land under the leadership of community elders. The Mulka production house, recording studio, digital learning centre and cultural archive are managed by Yolŋu law and governance.
The Mulka Project strives to employ and train as many Yolŋu of all ages as possible. Currently we have male and female staff spanning three generations. Our facilities are a unique media training ground for future indigenous leaders. We produce and repatriate audio-visual cultural resources and disseminate them throughout the Yolŋu community. We provide industry standard workplace training, create income streams for Homeland communities, whilst employing cultural advisors, film makers, translators, camera operators, editors, artists, and scholars.
At the core of The Mulka Project resides a growing, living archive of Yolŋu knowledge, ceremony, and cultural history. The word, dance, song, and law of elders past return to the minds and hearts of our people and repeat on through the generations. In the same way The Mulka Project gives voice to generations past it also has an obligation to let contemporary Yolŋu knowledge and law speak to coming generations. In the hands, and on the shoulders, of Yolŋu, The Mulka Projects cameras and microphones are the Eyes and the Ears of our children’s unborn children.
Creative Director: Ishmael Marika
Program and Technical Director: Joseph Brady
Filmmaker: Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu
Studio Co-ordinator: Bec Charlesworth
Head studio engineer: Arian Pearson

VIEWER ADVICE: Please be aware this work of art contains flashing lights, loud sounds and scenes depicting fire. Viewer discretion is advised.

IMAGES
available here

VIDEO
available here

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Kirsty Noffke
Communications Manager
P +61 2 6240 6756 M +61 401 090 089 E kirsty.noffke@nga.gov.au