SYDNEY.- Yolŋu elder and distinguished artist Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu from Yirrkala in the Northern Territory has won the Wynne Prize 2024 for her painting Nyalala gurmilili.

The work is one of the largest bark paintings ever produced and the first bark painting to be awarded the Wynne Prize. The painting depicts the miwatj, or ‘sunrise side’ in Yolŋu Matha. It relates to the north-easternmost part of Arnhem Land, NT, that receives the first light as the sun rises in the east. This is the landscape during April and the start of Miḏawarr (the harvest season following the wet), when the earth receives sudden surprise showers during what is meant to be the dry.

A first-time Wynne Prize finalist, Yunupiŋu paints lore connected to the beach at Garriri/Rocky Bay, through songs gifted to her by her father, renowned artist Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu (c.1905–1979). It refers to the tale of the Djulpan, a group of Yirritja spirit women who are a constellation – the Pleiades. These are the seven sisters, who come together to gather food. They then retreat over the northern horizon to their homes. If fires are lit before these celestial movements take place, the Djulpan become sad and cry, as is evident in this painting.

After receiving the news that she had won the Wynne Prize 2024, Yunupiŋu said: ‘I am one of seven sisters. There are only three of us left now. The songs of this painting were given to me by our father, Muŋgurrawuy. It shows the songs of the seven sisters in the stars crying. Now I am crying. But this time with happiness.’

Working from the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, Yunupiŋu first exhibited her paintings in 2021 at the age of 72, after caring for her late sister Mrs N Yunupiŋu, who won the 2021 Wynne Prize. She had previously participated in printmaking workshops with her sisters when in 2011 they collectively made the renowned Seven Sisters suite of prints.

Yunupiŋu paints on bark using earth pigments and gapan (clay) applied with a small brush called a marwat, which is made by hand using fine, straight, human hair. She methodically applies the paint onto the surface of the bark using a technique called rarrk (cross-hatching). Through dedicated practice she has honed and refined this technique.

The Wynne Prize is Australia’s oldest art prize and is awarded annually for 'the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists’.