MELBOURNE.- Tolarno Galleries announced representation of Djurrayun Murrinyina

This young woman is one of the few Djarrwark artists within the Miwatj region, or north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The Djarwarrk clan is numerically very small and parts of its territory fall outside the Miwatj region, where the effects of colonisation were stronger.

Djurrayun lives at Gäṉgan, a remote inland community, 206 kilometres from Yirrkala, where Dr. Gawirrin Gumana AO maintained the art and culture of this, one of his maternal clans, in his role as a Djuŋgaya ('care-taker').

Gawirrin was her maternal uncle and in the year 2007 she began to paint these designs in her own right. She is the only member of this clan to have provided such works in at least fifteen years.

It is believed that she is the only living artist producing works based on Djarwarrk sacred clan design. She is one of four daughters and two sons of Malaluba Gumana (1954-2020), who was an award winning exponent of mixed colours drawn from earth pigments.

Djurrayun is the mother of two adult sons and has lived at Gäṉgan all her life. She is a long term ranger with the Laynhapuy Homelands Association's Yirralka Rangers who care for and protect a massive Indigenous Protected area around the Laynha area. She works with the Yirralka Miyalk to harvest and produce bush medicines. She has extensive cultural knowledge in plant and fibre knowledge.

Tolarno Galleries is looking forward to exhibiting works by Djurrayun Murrinyina in early 2026.