Banduk Marika

Banduk Marika
Banduk Marika; AO
Born	13 October 1954; Yirrkala, Northern Territory
Style	linocut printmaking, bark painting
Parent(s)	Mawalan Marika (father);
Relatives	Wandjuk Marika (brother), Dhuwarrwarr Marika (sister), Laklak Marika (sister), Bayngul Marika (sister)
Awards	Red Ochre Award, 2001, Telstra Bark Painting Award, 2005

Banduk Mamburra Marika AO (born 13 October 1954) is an artist and printmaker from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. She is a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, whose traditional land is Yalangbara[1]

Early life

Marika was born on 13 October 1954 at Yirrkala, north-east Arnhem Land.[2] Her father Mawalan Marika (1908–1967)[3] was an artist and he taught her the techniques of bark painting.[4] She was educated at the mission at Yirrkala, then moved to Darwin in 1972.[2]

Career

In the mid-1980s Marika was artist-in-residence first at the Canberra School of Art and then at Flinders University.[2][4]

Her work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia,[5] Te Papa in New Zealand[6] and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.[7]

A colour photographic portrait of Marika taken by Anne Zahalka in 1990 is held by the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.[8]

Marika gave the 2010 Eric Johnston Lecture on the subject "Land Management and Cultural Responsibility", a recording being held by the Northern Territory Library.[9]

In 2017 she and Tiwi Islander Bede Tungutalum were chosen to design a set of four stamps with the theme "Art of the North" for Australia Post.[10]

Honours and recognition

At the 2001 National Indigenous Arts Awards Marika won the Red Ochre Award for her work in the visual arts.[11]

In 2005, she won the bark painting prize at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards for the painting Yalangbara. She was assisted in painting the work by Boliny and Ralwurrandji Wanambi.[12]

Her book, Yalangbara: Art of the Djang’kawu, was joint winner of the 2009 Chief Minister's Northern Territory Book History Awards.[13]

In April 2018 Marika received an honorary doctorate from Flinders University for "her remarkable contributions as a First Nations artist and cultural advocate for the Yolngu people".[4]

Marika was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to the visual arts, particularly to Indigenous printmaking and bark painting, and through cultural advisory roles".[14]

In 2020 Marika featured as one of six Indigenous artists in the ABC TV series This Place: Artist Series. The series is a partnership between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Gallery of Australia, in which the producers travelled to the countries of "some of Australia's greatest Indigenous artists to share stories about their work, their country, and their communities".[15][16]

1993 counterfeit carpet court case

In 1993, it was found that Marika's print 'Djanda and the Sacred Waterhole' (1988) had been reproduced without permission on rugs marketed by the Perth-based company Indofurn Pty Ltd.[17] Marika joined with the two other artists whose works had been used, George Milpurrurru and Tim Payungka Tjapangarti, to seek reparations under the Copyright Act and Trade Practices Act.[18] The Federal Court awarded damages of $188,000 to the artists and ordered the rugs be released to them. This was the largest penalty awarded for copyright infringement against Australian artists up to that time, and included compensation for cultural damage stemming from the unauthorised use of sacred imagery.[19]

Works

Marika, Banduk, 1954-, (editor.); West, Margie K. C., 1950-, (editor.); Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory (2008), Yalangbara : art of the Djang'kawu, Charles Darwin University Press, ISBN 978-0-9803846-7-3CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

References

McLennan, Chris. "Banduk Marika says ancestral stories retain their relevance today". Katherine Times. Katherine Times. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
"Banduk Marika". Art Gallery of New South Wale. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Mawalan Marika". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Daughter of Arnhem Land honoured". Flinders University - News. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Tactility: two centuries of Indigenous objects, textiles and fibre | Banduk MARIKA | Foam bubbles; length of fabric". nga.gov.au. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Banduk Marika". Te Papa Tongarewa | Museum of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Artist Info". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Banduk Marika, National Portrait Gallery". www.portrait.gov.au. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
Marika, Banduk (26 November 2010), Land management and cultural responsibility (MP3 audio and MP4 video files), Northern Territory Library
"Art of the North". Australia Post Collectables. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"National Indigenous Arts Awards | Australia Council". www.australiacouncil.gov.au. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Past Telstra NATSIAA Award Winners". Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. MAGNT. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
"Chief Minister's History Book Award - Past winners". Northern Territory Library. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
"Banduk Mamburra Marika". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
Whitford, Maddie (13 April 2020). "Producers reflect on profound experience walking with Indigenous artists on country". ABC News. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
"This Place: Artist Series". ABC iview. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
"Art and Indigenous rights". National Museum of Australia. NMA. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
West, Margie (2008). Yalangbara : art of the Djang'kawu. Darwin, N.T.: Charles Darwin University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780980384673.
West, Margie (2008). Yalangbara : art of the Djang'kawu. Darwin, N.T.: Charles Darwin University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780980384673.