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Barayuwa Munuŋgurr

Barayuwa Munuŋgurr

Barayuwa works primarily in sculpture and painting, he is a skilled maker of yiḏaki, gaḻpu (spear-throwers), gara (spears) and biḻma (clap-sticks).

His work depicts his own Djapu clan designs as well as his mother’s Munyuku clan designs. Extending on traditional designs through his own interpretation, Barayuwa’s work shows an experimental approach characteristic of a younger generation of artists now working at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka. Barayuwa’s paintings refer to stories focused on the Munyuku waters at Yarrinya. They describe the water passages, wind and cloud formations reflecting into the water and the powers within the salt waters for which he is custodian.

Recent exhibitions include Today Tomorrow Yesterday, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2016; 32nd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 2016; Dark MOFO – Raft, Hobart, 2016; Living Waters, Monaco Oceanographic Institute, 2016; and Rambangi Together as Equals, with Ruark Lewis, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, 2015.

In 2017, Barayuwa’s wall work Yarrinya was acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Barayuwa is a long-time staff member of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, in Yirrkala, providing great assistance to artists of the community.