Bob Wanurr Namundja

Wanurr Bob Namundja (c.1933–2005) was an Aboriginal Australian artist known for his bark paintings.

Biography Wanurr Bob Namundja was born in western Arnhem Land to the Kardbam clan in 1933. He spoke Kunwinjku which is part of the Bininj Kunwok language group. He was the older brother of Don Nakadilinj Namundja, who also became an artist.

Wanurr spent many years traveling throughout Australia, participating in cultural ceremonies and maintaining his relationships with his extended family. Specifically, he had known social affiliations with the Yirritja moiety and Nawakadj subsection.

Career During the 1960s, Wanurr was part of a group of artists who began painting professionally through the Church Mission Society’s Oenpelli Mission, under the encouragement of linguist Peter Carroll.

Along with Bardayal Nadjamerrek, Wanurr was one of the senior managers of the Kunabibi ceremony which the anthropologist Luke Taylor argues had a major impact on the range of imagery produced in western Arnhem Land, particularly in depictions of Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent). Ngalyod is associated with the fertility and seasonal changes of spring, especially with the monsoons during the wet season. Because of this, she is often represented using transformations into plants and animals, such as waterlilies and fish. There are also pieces that include features of several animals morphed into one being. Wanurr was one of the earlier artists to draw this figure in a more contemporary sense as it represents the unification of various groups and resonates the idea that humans are all one people. Hence, Wanurr opted to take a more abstract approach in order to capture this shift in social awareness among Kunwinjku artists. Painting alongside each other, these men drew heavily on their rock art heritage, remaining steadfastly figurative in their motifs, and restricting themselves to single, parallel-line infill (or rarrk) to embellish their figures. This was in contrast to many other artists who chose to use more elaborate cross-hatching like that used in ceremonial designs.

Bob Namundja painted what he saw around him as well as culturally relevant inspirations. He learned the tradition of rock art from his father. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

Significant exhibitions

1984-5: Kunwinjku Bim: Western Arnhem Land paintings from the Collection of the Aboriginal Arts Board. National Gallery of Victoria. 7 December 1984 – 24 June 1985. 1995: Meat Market Craft Centre, Melbourne Victoria, September 1995. 2004: Crossing Country: The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 September - 12 December 2004. 2006: L’art aborigène contemporain. Médiathèque Cathédrale de Reims, Reims.