Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre

Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre

12°15′10″S 136°53′30″E / 12.25278°S 136.89167°E / -12.25278; 136.89167
Formation	1976; 48 years ago (1976)
Purpose	Work and gallery space for Indigenous Australian artists
Location	Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia

The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, formerly Buku-Larrŋgay Arts and also known as the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre and Museum, is an art centre in Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is often referred to as Buku for short. It is one of many Indigenous art centres across Australia, which support their communities and make them self-reliant – an Australian invention. Many notable artists have worked or continue to work at the centre.

The centre also has a stage, named after artist and Indigenous rights activist Roy Marika (c.1925 – 1993), which is used for the annual Yarrapay Festival.

The art of the Yirrkala area has developed a growing market ever since the township was founded as a mission by the Methodist Overseas Mission in 1935, and started selling local artworks. Evidence suggests that Yirrkala art played a major role in the appreciation of Indigenous art by non-Indigenous people.^[1]

The inspiration for the gallery arose in the 1960s, when Narritjin Maymuru set up his own gallery on the beachfront.^[2]

In 1976 Buku-Larrŋgay Arts was established by local artists in the old Yirrkala Mission health centre, after missionaries had left and as the Aboriginal land rights and Homeland movements gathered pace. A new museum was built in 1988 using a Bicentenary grant, and this now contains a collection created in the 1970s which illustrates clan law. It also houses the message sticks^[2] which, after delivery by the anthropologist Donald Thomson, were instrumental in establishing peaceful talks during the Caledon Bay crisis in 1935.^[3]

Naminapu Maymuru-White was curator from 1990 until 1996.^[4] From 1998 Buku-Larrnggay has been supported by the Australian Government's Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support programme.^[5]

In 1996, extra gallery spaces and a screen print studio were built, and in 2007, The Mulka Project was added. This project comprises a collection of many thousands of historical images and films, and continues to create new digital art and images.^[2]

As of 2015^[update] it represented more than 300 artists from around the homelands, and exhibitions of work by the artists were being shown across Australia and internationally.^[5]

The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, formerly Buku-Larrŋgay Arts and also known as the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre and Museum, is a world-renowned art centre in Yirrkala. It is often referred to as Buku for short.^[6][7] It is one of many Indigenous art centres across Australia, which support their communities and make them self-reliant. This type of centre is, according to art coordinator Will Stubbs, an Australian invention.^[5] As of 2024^[update], Buku-Larrnggay continues to be supported by the Commonwealth Government's Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support programme.^[8]

As of 2020^[update], the centre, greatly expanded, comprises two divisions: the Yirrkala Art Centre, which represents the artists exhibiting and selling contemporary art, and The Mulka Project, which incorporates the museum.^[2] It is known for its production of bark paintings, weaving in natural fibres, larrakitj (memorial poles), yidaki, and many other forms of art.^[9]

There is a stage called the Roy Marika Stage at the centre, which is used for the annual Yarrapay Festival. In June 2021, the festival was directed by Witiyana Marika, and featured the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band, Yothu Yindi, Yirrmal, and East Journey.^[10]

The historic Yirrkala Church Panels were created in 1963 by Yolngu elders of the Dhuwa moiety (including Mawalan Marika, Wandjuk Marika and Mithinarri Gurruwiwi), who painted one sheet with their major ancestral narratives and clan designs, and eight elders of the Yirritja moiety, including Mungurrawuy Yunupingu, Birrikitji Gumana, and Narritjin Maymuru, who painted the other sheet with Yirritja designs.^[11][12][13] They were discarded by the church in 1974, but were salvaged by Buku-Larrnggay in 1978. On 27 February 1998 they were unveiled by then prime minister John Howard, and were described by Yolŋu leaders as "Title Deeds which establish the legal tenure for each of our traditional clan estates".^[11]

Women artists who have worked at the centre include five sisters: Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu, Gulumbu Yunupingu, Barrupu Yunupingu, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, and Eunice Djerrkngu Yunupingu; as well as Dhuwarrwarr Marika; Malaluba Gumana; Naminapu Maymuru-White; Nonggirrnga Marawili; Dhambit Mununggurr, and Mulkuṉ Wirrpanda. Their work was included in a December 2021 – April 2022 exhibition at the NGV, called Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala.^{[6][14][15][16]}

Other notable artists at the centre, past and present, include Banduk Marika, Gunybi Ganambarr, Djambawa Marawili, and Yanggarriny Wunungmurra.^[5]

Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala is an exhibition mounted by the centre in collaboration with the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia in 2024. Inspired by Djambawa Marawili and seven years in the making, it is the first major exhibition of bark painting to tour the United States. It is curated entirely by Yolŋu artists and knowledge holders from Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka, and is being exhibited around the country from 4 February 2024 to 5 January 2025. Maḏayin is a Yolŋu term meaning "sacred" and "hidden".^[17]

The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has been collecting bark paintings by Buku artists since around 2000, which are included in its significant collection of work by Yolŋu women artists.^[14]