The Kluge-Ruhe Collection is pleased to announce that their nomination, Djarrakpi Story (1966) by Narritjin Maymuru, was selected as a winner in the 2011 Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts Program.
The Virginia Association of Museums hosted a competition among Virginia museums to raise awareness about preserving artifacts in the care of museums, libraries and archives throughout the Commonwealth. The fact that over 100,000 votes were cast by the public for all the nominations in the competition confirms that the citizens of Virginia recognize the importance of historic preservation and conservation.
Djarrakpi Story was painted by Narritjin Maymuru, a prominent Yolngu bark artist from Arnhem Land in the north of Australia. The painting depicts two ancestors who went fishing in a dugout canoe and were washed overboard by an ancestral sea turtle. It refers to a long history of interaction between coastal Aboriginal people and Indonesian traders, who introduced the dugout canoe, and demonstrates the creativity of an individual artist in depicting major themes of Yolngu art.
The painting shows signs of deterioration, particularly in areas where the pigment is flaking off the surface. It requires treatment by a qualified conservator before it can be exhibited.
The Kluge-Ruhe Collection is pleased to announce that their nomination, Djarrakpi Story (1966) by Narritjin Maymuru, was selected as a winner in the 2011 Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts Program.
The Virginia Association of Museums hosted a competition among Virginia museums to raise awareness about preserving artifacts in the care of museums, libraries and archives throughout the Commonwealth. The fact that over 100,000 votes were cast by the public for all the nominations in the competition confirms that the citizens of Virginia recognize the importance of historic preservation and conservation.
To help preserve this endangered artifact, donate now.
Read more about the winning objects and view photographs of all nominations.
Judy Watson, one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, is spending a week in Charlottesville as an artist-in-residence at UVa, Her first major suite of etchings, titled heron island suite, is on view at the Kluge-Ruhe Collection through December 18. A satellite exhibition of the prints can be seen at the Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library at UVa through August 2012.
During her residency, Watson will work with UVa studio art students on a print project creating a new body of work inspired by the exhibition Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece which Watson saw during her 2009 visit to UVa.
In addition, she will discuss her work over the past twenty years in an Artist Talk on October 4 at 5:30 pm in UVa’s Campbell Hall 153. This event is open to the public with free parking available at the Culbreth parking garage.
Watson will also participate in a seminar in the Department of Environmental Sciences on October 6 with UVa Art Professor Megan Marlatt titled On Observation: Artists in the Natural Laboratory. This event begins at 3:30 pm in UVa’s Clark Hall, room 108, followed by a reception at the Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library.
Judy Watson was born in Mundubbera, Queensland in 1959. Her grandmother was from the Waanyi, or “running water,” people of northwest Queensland. She has represented Australia at the Venice Biennale and designed two pieces to be incorporated into the architecture of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris in 2006. In 2007, she was part of the National Indigenous Art Triennial Culture Warriors, which was exhibited at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C. in 2009. Most recently she has participated in several public art projects, including an artwork installed along the side of the Queensland Rail Tilt Train that travels between Brisbane and Cairns. Her work is held by significant private and public collections, including the Queensland Art Gallery, Parliament House Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Australia.
Image: Judy Watson, heron island suite #1, 2009
A bark painting from the Kluge-Ruhe Collection has been nominated as one of Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts by the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM). From August 15th to September 20th, the public is invited to vote for their favorite endangered artifact. VAM’s independent peer review panel will take public votes into consideration when determining the “top 10.” Winners will receive assistance launching a fundraising campaign to restore their artifact.
We need your help. Vote for our entry by selecting Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at UVA from the drop down menu and hitting “submit.” See all of the entries here.
This bark painting is one of several by artist Narritjin Maymuru on related themes in the Kluge-Ruhe Collection. It depicts a Manggalili clan story associated with Djarrakpi (Blue Mud Bay) in northeast Arnhem Land, Australia. It also refers to a long history of interaction between coastal Aboriginal people and Indonesian traders from Macassar. The story involves two ancestral hunters who went out in search of parrot fish. They were eventually killed in a storm, which is alluded to by symbols such as the bird, the sail, and mast of the boat. Although the boat and mast were introduced to Aboriginal people by Macassans, this bark suggests an ancestral story from the creation era, predating Macassan contact. It is an excellent example of narrative in Yolngu art, depicting the same fishermen at different moments in the story. This work demonstrates the creativity of an individual artist in depicting major themes of Yolngu art.
See a video made by Kluge-Ruhe summer intern Chloe Delaney about this painting.
For more information about how you can help the Kluge-Ruhe Collection with our conservation efforts, lease contact Margo Smith at 434 244-0234.
