Before Dhambit Munuŋgurr, no Yolŋu artist had painted with the colour blue.
For Yolŋu artists who depict Country, and its stories, it is customary to only use materials collected from Country, such as ochre, bark and earth pigments.
Dhambit Munungurr's new exhibition depicts cultural memories and experiences through the colour blue. Source: Supplied / Andrew McLeish
Introducing non-traditional colours helped her to overcome the difficulty of hand-grinding ochre and continue to practice her love of painting.
It also sparked her striking, and now iconic, exploration of the colour blue.
Now 20 new works by Munuŋgurr, especially commissioned for the exhibition by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), have premiered at the Australian Embassy in Paris.
The Earth is Blue: The Art of Dhambit Munuŋgurr (La Terre est bleue: L'art de Dhambit Munuŋgurr), curated by NGV in partnership with Buku Larrngŋgay Mulka Art Centre is Munuŋgurr's first European solo exhibition.
The new pieces reflect cultural stories, and familial and personal experiences of life in her home community of Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land.
A highlight work, Turtle Hunters 2024, depicts five Yolŋu people floating on the ocean in a canoe alongside turtles, sharks and dolphins.
The dolphins in the work likely reflect the true story of Munuŋgurr's grandfather, Mungurrawuy, becoming adrift at sea after his canoe was swept away by the tide.
Mungurrawuy was supported by dolphins who helped him return to his canoe, making dolphins especially significant to Munuŋgurr and her family.
The exhibition marks Munuŋgurr's first time using paper as a medium having previously focused her practice on bark and board.
The Earth Is Blue exhibition by Dhambit Munungurr at the Australian Embassy in Paris. Source: Supplied / Andrew McLeish
"Through her work, Dhambit propels the timeless cultural traditions, stories and motifs of the Yolŋu people into the twenty-first century, revealing a cyclical history of Indigenous Australian art that is at once ancient and modern."
This is the fifth exhibition presented by the NGV at the Australian Embassy in Paris and builds on the success of previous exhibitions, including Blak Rainbow: L’Art de Dylan Mooney (2023), Maree Clarke – Rituel et Cérémonie: Extrait de Mémoires Ancestrales (2022), DESTIN: L’Art de Destiny Deacon (2022) and Gothique Blanc: Petrina Hicks (2021).
The Earth is Blue: The Art of Dhambit Munuŋgurr is on display from 25 Oct 2024 – 31 March 2025 at the Australian Embassy in Paris, 4 Rue Jean Rey, Paris, France.
