Maningrida Arts and Culture:

Maningrida Arts and Culture is based in Maningrida community, 500km east of Darwin and services more than 700 artists from Maningrida and its surrounding 34 outstations, covering an area of more than 10,000 square kilometres. The town of Maningrida lies on the estuary of the Liverpool River, on the coast of Arnhem Land. The Kunibídji people are the traditional landowners of this country. The name Maningrida is an Anglicised version of the Kunibídji name Manayingkarírra, which comes from the phrase Mane djang karirra, meaning 'the place where the dreaming changed shape'.

Maningrida Arts and Culture has developed an enviable reputation in the fine arts market for high quality product with comprehensive cultural and biographical documentation. Bark painting, wooden and fibre sculpture, natural fibre items, prints, and more recently works in bronze and aluminium are created by the artists here.

The art of Maningrida is heterogeneous, dynamic and innovative, reflecting the diversity of languages and cultures present in the region. Many artists from Maningrida have won prestigious national prizes over the years such as the bark painting prize at NATSIAA in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006 and the Wandjuk Marika Memorial Three-Dimensional Award at NATSIAA in 1996, 1997 and 2004. In 2003, John Mawurndjul was the first Indigenous artist to be awarded the prestigious Clemenger Contemporary Art Prize held at the National Gallery of Victoria. Other recent achievements include the participation of John Mawurndjul in the major public art commission for the Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, France. Both traditional and non-traditional work from Maningrida has a reputation for quality, innovation, vibrancy and diversity. This is attributed to the cultural diversity of the Aboriginal people of the eight different language groups living in the Maningrida township and in the 34 outstations.

Bark Painting

All bark paintings are painted copy courtesy of Maningrida Arts and Culture, natural ochres with PVC fixative on stringybark. Prices for bark paintings are assessed on the quality and size of the bark and the reputation of the artist.

While wooden objects, both sacred and utilitarian, have always played an integral part in life in Arnhem Land, the carving of spirit sculptures is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the early 1960s Crusoe Kuningbal (now deceased) started to carve ethereal mimih spirit figures which subsequently inspired a whole genre of spirit figure carving. Such figures are now highly sought after.

Fibre Sculpture

Unusual fibre items such as sculptures and animals are also made occasionally. They are made with pandanus, paperpark and sticks and decorated with ochres. Lena Yarinkura is well known for her fibre sculptures including Yawkyawks and camp dogs. Other well-known artists with working in this genre include Lena Djamarrayku and Carol Liyawanga Campion.

The Djomi Museum

The Djómi Museum functions as an integrated element in the community's cultural and regional development. It promotes the richness of the region's artistic expression, it is the custodian of a wealth of historical and cultural material and an active source and repository of valuable reference and research data. Djómi is an official regional museum of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

A visit to the museum is included during your time at Maningrida.

Images and copy courtesy of Maningrida Arts and Culture www.maningrida.com