
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Painting
The prodigal son c.1780-1840
UNKNOWN
International Art | Sculpture
Spinario cast late 19th century
after School of PASITELES
Asian Art | Print
Courtesans (reprint) unknown
after EISEN
Asian Art | Sculpture
Flying horse of Kansu cast 1973
after EASTERN HAN ARTIST
International Art | Sculpture
Bust of Niccolo da Uzzano unknown
after DONATELLO
International Art | Sculpture
Borghese warrior 19th century
after AGASIUS THE EPHESIAN
Pacific Art | Fibre
Jipai (mask) 2011
AFEX, Ben
International Art | Glass
Decanter c.1875-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
Contemporary Australian Art | Installation
Blackboards with pendulums 1992
KENNEDY, Peter
International Art | Drawing
Design
ADAM, Sicander
International Art | Metalwork
Tea urn c.1770-1800
ADAM STYLE
International Art | Ceramic
Long necked vase c.1900-50
ACOMO PUEBLO
Pacific Art | Photograph
'Te Waiherehere', Koroniti, Wanganui River, 29 May 1986 1986, printed 1997
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Nature morte (silence), Savage Club, Wanganui, 20 February 1986 1986, printed 1999
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Angel over Whangape Harbour, Northland, 6 May 1982 1982, printed 1991
ABERHART, Laurence
Australian Art | Drawing
A memory of Gumeracha (study of flies) 1908
HEYSEN, Hans
Pacific Art | Print
The boxer 2009
ABEL, Patrik
These works document contact between the Yolngu people of north-eastern Arnhem Land and Macassan Bugis fisher-traders from South Sulawesi, Indonesia. For over 500 hundred years, Macassans travelled annually to Marege (as they called the northern shores of Australia) on the early monsoonal winds to gather the prized trepang (sea slug) — for a lucrative trade with China. In Balirlira and the Macassans c.1958, Larrtjanga Ganambarr’s richly expressive episodic narrative of the interaction of a specific spirt man with the Macassans offers insights into the depth of the visitors’ influence on Yolngu art and culture.
The repetitive geometric designs in John Bulunbulun’s Body design – wind 2002 represent lunggurruma — the north-westerly winds that filled the sails of the Macassan perahus (wooden fishing boats), aiding their journey to northern Australia — as well as the distinctive triangular cirrus cloud formations that herald the seasonal change to monsoonal weather. Body paintings in earth pigments are part of annual rituals, during which performers sing and dance with decorative poles representing the mast of a perahu at sea.
The Yolngu/Macassan relationship was largely peaceful; life was enhanced and enlivened by the personal connections they made and through the exchange of labour and goods such as food, weapons, tools, arak (coconut palm flower wine) and cloth, which were integrated into daily life in Arnhem Land.
In Dhuwarrwarr Marika’s Macassan swords and long knives 2021, she represents the swords and knives introduced into Arnhem Land by Macassans, recalling her family’s close connection to the travellers. Ceremonial swords are embedded in Yolngu manikay (sacred songs) and still feature in ritual dances and ground sculptures. As the Yolngu mastered metalworking, these blades became essential tools for making hunting spears and crafting the dug-out canoes that enabled open-sea travel for the first time.
(l–r) Dhuwarrwarr Marika / Rirratjingu/Miliwurrwurr people / Australia b. c.1945 / Macassan swords and long knives 2021 / Natural pigments on wood; and Macassan swords and long knives 2021 / Natural pigments on bark / Purchased 2021 with funds from Anne Best through the QAGOMA Foundation / © Dhuwarrwarr Marika