Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr

Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr is an Australian artist renowned for her finely detailed paintings on bark. In some publications Rerrkirrwanga is referred to as Rerrki, which appears to be a nickname from her older sister Marrnyula Mununggurr. She is the youngest daughter of the artist Djutjadjutja Munungurr. Her husband, Yalpi Yunupinu, helped train Rerrkirrwanga in the traditions that he painted in addition to what she learned from her father. In the 1990s, Rerrkirrwanga finished many of his works even though they are attributed to her father.

Biography Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr was born in 1971 in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, and her family is part of the Djapu clan of the Yolngu people. Her father Djutjadjutja Munungurr, older sister Marrnyula Mununggurr, and mother Nonggirrnga Marawili have all worked as artists within the Aboriginal community. She is married to Gumatj artist Yalpi Yunupingu.

Rerrkirrwanga was one of the first printmakers at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre and she continues to be an active artist in the centre. This is the Indigenous community-controlled art centre of Northeast Arnhem Land.

In 2014 she travelled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA for her solo exhibition at Chiaroscuro Gallery. who has been working alongside Aboriginal artists since 1983 to facilitate production of screen prints and to integrate other mediums of art creation. Basil Hall assisted in the establishment of the art center in Yirrkala, who taught the interested artists how to utilize the printmaking equipment her brought.

In 2015, she created an etching call Ganybu. Ganybu are a type of fishing net that her community produces that are double-sided and triangular. Ochres and earth pigments in red, yellow, black, and white are collected from known deposits.

Brushes are made with human hair tied to a stick. These brushes are called mawat, and Rerrkirrwanga’s are known to be among the finest, accounting for her meticulously detailed bark paintings.

A unique aspect of her bark paintings is her ability to paint both Dhuwa and Yirritja miny'ti, or sacred symbols. , which showed her husband’s clan designs of fire. The totemic significance of fire to the Yunupiŋu family of the Gumatj is paramount.

In 2010, Rerrkirrwanga was a finalist for the TOGART NT Contemporary Art Award.

Exhibitions Since 1994 her art has appeared in more than 30 exhibitions across Australia, and in 2014 she had a solo exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Collections Her works can be seen in the following public collections:

Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, University of Virginia, USA National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ACT National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Her work is also in many private collections in Australia and abroad.