Image courtesy of Milingimbi Art and Culture.
In early September 2018, Milingimbi artists Helen Ganalmirriwuy and Ruth Nalmakarra will travel to Europe at the invitation of the Museum der Kulturen, Basel. In Europe, the artists will work with museum staff, exhibit their artwork and deliver public workshops and presentations. Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra will be accompanied by Milingimbi Art and Culture coordinator, Rosita Holmes and anthropologist, Louise Hamby.
The invitation to travel to the Museum came as a result of the Makaratta held in Yurrwi (Milingimbi) in 2016. During this event representatives from national and international collecting institutions were invited to Yurrwi to recognise collecting processes from the past and to develop respectful ways of working together in the present.
The majority of Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra’s time in Europe will be spent at the Museum der Kulturen. The Museum der Kulturen holds over 200 artworks and objects collected from Yurrwi in the 1920’s to 1960’s. Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra will work with museum staff to build on the knowledge of their Ngapipi (mothers brother) Dr Joe Gumbula.
Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra will reflect on their fibre practice as part of a continuum between past and present during a public workshop at the Museum on Saturday the 8th of September.
In Genéva, at the Ethnographic Museum de Genéva, Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra will meet with museum staff to discuss the significance of fibre in the life of Yolngu in the past and present. Here they will also work with the museum’s collection.
The artists recent collaborations with designers at Koskela designs and Manapan Furniture will be the topic of discussion during a presentation to students at the University of Applied Science, Basel.
On the 13th of September, the artists will attend the preview of a combined exhibition with Maningrida Arts at ArtKelch, Freiburg, Germany. The distinctive Mul Mindirr (black twined basket) of Helen Ganalmirriwuy and her sister Margaret Rarru will be featured.
Ganalmirriwuy and Nalmakarra’s process of dyeing and making artworks from plant fibres, roots and leaves harvested by hand from Yurrwi and the surrounding Crocodile Islands will be explored and compared with natural dye processes of Paris-based artisan Aurélia Wolff during a public workshop on the 15th of September.
Source: Milingimbi Arts and Culture