Mick Kubarkku

Mick Kubarkku (c. 1922 – 2008) (also spelled Gubarrgu) was regarded as a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist most associated with Kuninjku modernism.

Biography Mick Kubarkku was born near the Mann and Liverpool River Districts about 50 kilometers south of Maningrida in c. 1922. He grew up in the absence of European influence in the rock-shelters in the Mann River District. Mick Kubarkku died 16 May 2008. This nomad travel would take place between his father's homeland of Kulmarru and his mother's homeland Kardbam Country. However, on when the war began, he was sent with his brothers to the Milingimbi Mission. After the war, he returned to Australia and relocated to Oenpelli to work at Buffalo shooter camps. Shortly following this, he relocated to Maningrida in 1957 when it was newly settled by the government.

Kubarkku was one of the first painters in this area, beginning a long-standing tradition of art in the new area. His work began to gain traction in markets after the creation of Maningrida Arts and Culture in 1969. Kubarkku delved into the art of Mimih and other spirits in the 1970s. His depictions of these spirits were notable because he diverged from the normal thin and spindly representations of the Mimih and instead painted them strong spirits that resembled the rocks they sprang from. Later in his life, Kubarkku began to depict these spirits in a new medium, carvings. These carvings were three dimensional, creating a sculpture like art.

In his later years, Kubarkku remained a highly respected elder artist in the western Arnhem Land art movement. He lived with his family at Yirkarrakkal, his remote outstation, where he passed along his skills and helped them flourish as artists under his guidance.

Mick Kubarkku died in 2008. His daughter Marina Murdilnga is a fiber artist and also works through the Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre.

Career At the age of 15, Kubarkku was taught the cultural significance and crafting techniques for sacred clan designs by his father. The ease in which he picked up these techniques were noticed by the elder clan members and he was allowed to participate in painting rarrk for the Madayin ceremony on rock shelters.

His early paintings used a dotted infill technique that was reminiscent of the rock art he was accustomed to seeing in his youth.

By the time he died in May 2008, Kubarkku had been infirm for many years, and the last of his works of art were created in the early 2000s. He produced very few works in general after 1995, when he was celebrated alongside Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek in the exhibition Rainbow, sugarbag and moon, which was curated by Margie West, who was the curator of Aboriginal art and material culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory at the time.

The processes of painting

There are many different painting techniques that are required to successfully create traditional Aboriginal art styles. A very common element in these bark paintings is the use of rarrk. Senior artists often require the help from more novice painters when creating this tedious rarrk design. In order to paint the rarrk design, a special paint brush is required. This extremely fine paint brush is made from the long central fibers in the water reed called manyilk. It is crucial for the artist to have a steady hand when painting the rarrk design, which can be much harder for the senior artists. This slow and careful process is called yalmo work. Many senior artists have been forced to retire the skill of painting rarrk due to the difficulty of pure steadiness. For example, Mick Kubarkku recalls the time when he was younger and first learning how to create the traditional rarrk design. "I saw my father doing the rarrk for the Mardayin ceremony and tried to do it myself with my back all doubled over, I ended up being better than any of them at it. They gave me a job in the Mardayin ceremony to paint some rank. When they all saw me doing it they said 'wow', he's got the hang of it. 'You've left us behind my son,' they said to me (in Garde 1997: n.p.)." Mick Kubarrku was fifteen years old when he first learned the skill from his father, and he used this knowledge to teach future generations about the importance of rarrk and the ceremonial meanings behind it. Many of his works rely on fine cross hatching to constitute the rarrk. The highly esteemed pure white pigment used for fine cross hatching is collected by hand and said to be mined and traded from a sacred site. It's said to be the feces of the rainbow serpent, Ngalyod.

Painting style

Kubarkku's distinguished works are recognizable by their combined usage of bands of traditional rarrk and accents of dotting. The dotting technique used by Kubarkku in his paintings and sculptures originated from the techniques and stylistic conventions of Arnhem Land rock art paintings. Following in the footsteps of the majority of Kuninjku artists, however, Kubarkku gradually shifted towards rarrk as his primary artistic device in his paintings over the course of his career.

Learning from the elders

Mick Kubarkku recalls growing up being surrounded by painters and various artists in their own creation processes. Being surrounded by these experienced artists was a huge inspiration for Kubarkku, and he used these men as artistic mentors as he started to create art of his own. He remembers being visited by Jon Altman and given food from the stores as they camped out and worked for many hours together. When Jon visited these artists, (Mick Kuabrkku, Balang Jimmy, Djarrbbarali, and John Mawurndjul) he would create voice recordings to document their teachings and experience in the artistic process. This created a chain of education, so future generations of artists can listen to the voice recordings and continue the legacy of their traditional art practices. Mick Kubarkku states that he used to live with these older mentors, along with other young aspiring artists of his own generation. They would watch the mentors as they painted and observe the materials that they used. He recalls that they would only use white ochre to create the pigments in the white paint. They would never stray from this traditional resource, and they taught Kubarkku and the others how important it was to stay true to their roots. This community was a place for learning to flourish and for the bonds between the various artists to grow stronger. Eventually, they expanded their horizons by reaching out to the non-Aboriginal people (the Balanda world) and sharing their culture and painting practices with a greater audience. Kubarkku states that the artists entered into the Balanda world, but continued to create paintings about their own land.

Important works

Namanjwarre the Crocodile This bark painting by Kubarkku depicts a crocodile totem, Namanjwarre, an important Yiridja moiety totem. Namanjwarre is a saltwater creature that is known as the protector of the sacred objects of the Mardayin ceremony. In legend, Namanjwarre would devour any man who diverged from the protocol of the ceremony. These types of crocodiles are very common in the upper areas of Liverpool River and Maragalidban Creek. Specifically, in Kurrindin, an outstation near the Liverpool River district, there is a sacred site that aims to protect these creatures.

Kubarkku painted Namanjwarre in a way that emulates the style of infill that is painted onto the sacred objects of the Mardayin ceremony. This aspect illustrates the interconnection between Namanjwarre and the Mardayin ceremony and highlights how Kubarkku emphasizes his culture in his work.

Ngarrbek, the Echidna Another bark painting by Kubarkku depicts an echidna named Ngarrbek. This species has sacred ties to the Yabbadurruwa ceremony. This

ceremony is performed in Kuninjku where Kubarkku himself lives. This is one of the two sacred ceremonies that the Kuninjku people practice, the other being the Kunabibbi ceremony. While they are two separate ceremonies, they work as a pair, playing off of each other in a complementary fashion to showcase themes of ancestral creation and the cycles of the season. Ngarrbek is important to this ceremony because according to legend, he fought with another spirit, Ngalmangiyi after he ate his child. Ngalmangiyi's weapon of choice was several spears that he threw into Ngarrbek, creating the spines in Echidnas.

Significant exhibitions 1996 Hogarth Galleries, Sydney NSW 1982, Aboriginal Art at the Top, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1983, Artists of Arnhem Land, Canberra School of Arts 1987, A selection of Aboriginal Art owned by the ANU, Drill Hall Gallery, ACT 1988, Dreamings, the art of Aboriginal Australia, The Asia Society Galleries, New York. 1988, The Fifth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1988, Aboriginal art of the Top End, c.1935-Early 1970s, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1989, A selection of Aboriginal Art owned by the ANU, Drill Hall Gallery, ACT 1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne; Design Warehouse Sydney 1990, Spirit in Land, Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria 1993, The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1993/4, ARATJARA, Art of the First Australians, Touring: Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Hayward Gallery, London; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark 1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria. 1995, Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon - The Art of Mick Kubarkku and Bardayal Nadjamerrek, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, and touring. 1995, Willy Jolpa and Mick Kubarkku, Group exhibition at Aboriginal and South Pacific Gallery, Sydney. 1995, The Twelfth National Aboriginal Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin