Yolngu art is a direct inheritance from ancient times. For succeeding generations, the art forms and ceremonies passed on to today’s Yolngu people express direct links their creation sites and ancestors.
The Elcho Panel is a composite work of 16 etchings by various artists. It represents how all the freshwater and saltwater country belongs to clans of the Dhuwa and Yirritja moieties. Printmaker Basil Hall Editions. Photograph Greg Semu.
Elcho Island artists share their profound knowledge of the environment the spiritual guardians of their land through their art. Each Dhuwa and Yirritja clan has its own patterns and totemic symbols, which show their relationships to all the people and creatures that live together in this country.
Elcho Island Arts view of gallery. Photograph Michel Bonnefis
Elcho Island Arts (EIA) is located in the township of Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island. EIA works with and buys art from over 200 Yolgnu artists in Galiwin’ku and the Marthakal homelands region.
The artists create high quality visual art in a range of media and styles. The sales and promotion of fine art is significant avenue for Yolgnu to share their rich culture with audiences for art in Australia and overseas.
The art centre is a division of the Marthakal Homelands Resource Centre, and is guided by the Mala (the governing Board composed of clan leaders).
Installation of soft sculpture, artworks woven with pandanus and natural dyes, at Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, 2011. Photograph Susan Cochrane
Buyu djama (weaving work) suits Yolgnu women’s contemporary way of life and attracts the interests of the balanda (non-Aboriginal) art market. Constant experimentation keeps the art exciting and dynamic, both for those creating it and for the ever increasing number of discerning admirers of their art.
Yolngu artists use natural resources for their age-old painting technique - hollow logs, bark panels, ground ochres.
Yolngu art is a direct inheritance from ancient times. For succeeding generations, the art forms and ceremonies passed on to today’s Yolngu people express direct links their creation sites and ancestors.
