Skip to main content
Skip to footer Skip to Acknowledgement of Country
National Gallery of Australia
What's On Art & Artists Visit
Login
  1. Home
  2. First Nations
  3. The Aboriginal Memorial

The Aboriginal Memorial

A wide-angle photograph showing an installation of 200 painted hollow logs standing upright in a large gallery space. The surrounding walls are painted in a dark colour and the logs are positioned on a navy plinth shaped to resemble both sides of a river bank.

Ramingining artists, Djon Mundine, Bandjalung people, The Aboriginal Memorial, 1987–88, purchased with the assistance of funds from National Gallery admission charges and commissioned in 1987

Ongoing
Gallery 9, Level 1
10am – 5pm daily

The Aboriginal Memorial is wheelchair accessible via lifts from the main entrance.


Ramingining Artists

The Aboriginal Memorial – 30th Anniversary

00:39

Djon Mundine, conceptual producer, introduces 'The Aboriginal Memorial' (1987–88) by Ramingining artists.

close-up image of installation of many painted hollow log coffins

About


Painted hollow burial log

David Blanasi, Rembarrnga people, Plants, fish and body designs in four bands, 1987–88, purchased with the assistance of funds from National Gallery admission charges and commissioned in 1987

The Aboriginal Memorial is an installation of 200 hollow log coffins from Central Arnhem Land. It commemorates all the Indigenous people who, since 1788, have lost their lives defending their land. The artists who created this installation intended that it be located in a public place where it could be preserved for future generations.

The path through the Memorial imitates the course of the Glyde River estuary which flows through the Arafura Swamp to the sea. The hollow log coffins are situated broadly according to where the artists' clans live along the river and its tributaries.

The different painting styles apparent in groupings are related to the artists' social groups (sometimes described as clans) which link people by or to a common ancestor, land, language and strict social affiliations.

The people of Central and Eastern Arnhem Land refer to themselves collectively as Yolngu, meaning human beings. All clans belong to a moiety i.e. one of two complementary halves of society: Dhuwa and Yirritja. All such affiliations play a part in Aboriginal artists' inherited right to paint an established set of designs belonging to their social group; this inheritance is, in fact, the artist's copyright over imagery.

In Arnhem Land, the right to paint is usually inherited patrilineally, although many artists paint their mother's story too. The designs on the hollow logs in the Memorial are the same themes that these artists paint on bark and on people's bodies in ceremony.

Hollow logs made for a burial ceremony are large. Smaller hollow logs may be made to keep the bones of the deceased at the home of the family for a period of time. The hollow logs can also represent the deceased person — the designs on the log are the same as the designs painted on the body during the burial rites. Many of the hollow logs have a small aperture either carved or painted towards the top. Yolngu believe that this provides the soul of the deceased with a viewing hole to look through and survey the land.

Yolngu believe that to achieve a shimmering brilliance in painting through cross-hatching and line work — giving a 'singing' quality to the imagery — is to evoke ancestral power. Artists from nine groups worked on the Memorial, and, whilst clan designs follow strict conventions ruling subject matter, each individual artist's hand is apparent.

As you move through the Memorial, you will witness the imagery from changing environments, from the lands of the saltwater people further inland to the country of the freshwater people.

The natural environment and its phenomena are vital to the Yolngu's clan identity. 'We Yolngu belong to different barpurru [clan groups] and each barpurru paints things differently; it depends if you come from the gulunbuy [mangroves] or diltjipuy [forests] or rangipuy [beach] ... It's important to know the difference and we need to teach the young people to paint in this way because they don't know. I teach them by painting a picture so they learn to see the difference,' says George Malibirr.

The work is unified by an array of common themes: the celebration of life, respect for the dead and mortuary traditions and people's connection with ancestral beings. Themes of transition and regeneration within Aboriginal culture pervade the Memorial. On a wider scale, the Memorial also marks a watershed in the history of Australian society. Whilst it is intended as a war memorial, it is also a historical statement, a testimony to the resilience of Indigenous people and culture in the face of great odds, and a legacy for future generations of Australians.

In June 2022 The Aboriginal Memorial reopened in a new location in the heart of the Gallery on Level 1. The relocation was planned in close consultation with the Ramingining community and the Commissioning Curator of the work, Djon Mundine. The new presentation returns the work to its original rectangular format as per the artists’ intent.


  • The Aboriginal Memorial

    History

    A close-up photograph showing a painted hollow-log. It is part of an installation of 200 painted hollow logs standing upright in a large gallery space. The surrounding walls are painted in a dark colour.
  • The Aboriginal Memorial

    Burial Ceremonies
    Hollow Log or Bone Coffin Mortuary Ceremony

    A photograph showing a section of an installation of 200 painted hollow logs standing upright in a large gallery space. The surrounding walls are painted in a dark colour and the logs are positioned on a navy plinth shaped to resemble both sides of a river bank.
  • The Aboriginal Memorial

    Artists & Clans

    A close-up photograph showing a painted hollow-log. It is part of an installation of 200 painted hollow logs standing upright in a large gallery space. The surrounding walls are painted in a dark colour.
  • The Aboriginal Memorial

    Arnhem Land

    A section of the aboriginal memorial poles in close up

Acknowledgments


The authors and the National Gallery of Australia gratefully acknowledge the following for assistance in producing this web site: Bula'bula Arts, Ramingining and Maningrida Arts and Culture, Dr Ian Keen and Dr Luke Taylor for information on the stories of clans. Warwick Smith for the data on species. Peter McKenzie, Djon Mundine, Belinda Scott, Susan Jenkins, Nigel Lendon, Jon Lewis and Jon Altman for permission to reproduce their photographs.

Related


The Aboriginal Memorial

Three men standing among a Bruce, Djon and Nick hollow log coffins from central Arnhem Land

On the eve of our 40th anniversary, the Gallery re-examines The Aboriginal Memorial.

Read Time 11 minutes
Story

Leading the Way

Four people are walking in a large painting storage room, with many paintings hanging in tall wire storage racks

The Indigenous Arts Leadership program helps teach First Nations arts workers how to combine their custodial learnings with contemporary leadership.

Read Time 16 minutes
The Balnaves Contemporary Series

The red thread of history

Two women sit on a timber bench, within a gallery space, surrounded by paintings and work of art suspended from the ceiling and walls

Artists Judy Watson, Waanyi people, and Helen Johnson have forged a dialogue on the roles of women in contemporary and colonial Australia.

Read Time 20 minutes

Walk in their shoes
National Gallery x Volley

Get to know the First Nations artists commissioned for the National Gallery x Volley project.

Read Time 20 minutes
First Nations

Mind your language

A wide long photograph / still from a film with a First Nations man, wearing a yellow singlet and black shorts signing

With the decade of Indigenous Languages beginning in 2022, find out how the Gallery will contribute to this vital global conversation.

Read Time 19 minutes

Blak power

A soft sculpture depiction of Parliament House surrounded by soft sculptures of people and native Australian animals and protest signs

Artists Marlene Rubuntja and Nanette Sharpe explain their connection to their work Blak Parliament House and Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

Read Time 10 minutes

Yuuma, Gurruburri

The National Gallery acknowledges the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the Kamberri/Canberra region, and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.

  • National Gallery On Demand
  • Art & Artists
  • What's On
  • Visit
  • Membership
  • Donate
  • Jobs
  • About Us

Connect

+61 2 6240 6411
information@nga.gov.au
Get art in your inbox

Open every day

(except Christmas day)
10am – 5pm

Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country
Parkes Place East, Parkes ACT 2600

View Street Map
View Gallery Map


Contact us

National Gallery of Australia

Follow the National gallery of Australia on:

  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Website Privacy Website Disclaimer Website Copyright
Opening Acknowledgment of Country

The National Gallery acknowledges the First Peoples of this land and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country

Learn More
Aerial view of artist Lola Greeno walking along Rocky Beach
Aerial view of artist Lola Greeno walking along Rocky Beach
    • View All
    • Today
    • Exhibitions
    • On tour
    • Access Programs
    • All Programs
    • On Demand
    • About the Collection
    • Sculpture Garden
    • Kenneth E. Tyler Collection
    • Provenance
    • Conservation
    • Copyright
    • Search the Collection
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Getting Here
    • Parking & Transport
    • Art Store
    • Dining
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Research Library & Archives
    • Admission tickets
    • Browse Stories
    • Browse Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Audio Tours
    • Virtual Tours
    • The Annual
    • Publications
    • Learning Programs
    • For people with access needs
    • For Teachers & Students
    • For Young People
    • For Kids & Families
    • For Adults
    • For Your Community
    • Art Cases
    • Educator Programs
    • Get Involved
    • Membership
    • Voluntary Guides
    • Partnerships
    • Support
    • Donate
  • First Nations
  • Access
  • Art Store
  • Media
  • Venue Hire
  • About Us
  • Contacts