This work by Kay Lindjuwanga concerns a major patrimoiety ceremony of a secret and sacred nature called 'Mardayin'. Much of the meaning of the iconography in the painting is not in the domain of public knowledge ad so it cannot be explained in detail here.

This painting also refers to an important site, Dilebang, where the ancestor Buluwana and her family died.  Today an arrangement of rocks standing in the ground remains as Buluwana's present day form at Dilebang.  Only her head protrudes as a prismic standing stone, the rest of her body is under the ground.  Other human remains lying on rock ledges are said to be the remains of other early ancestors.  The white circles represent the water springs at Dilebang.

Text courtesy of and ©Maningrida Arts & Culture

Kay Lindjuwanga is one of Maningrida Arts and Culture's leading female artists. Similarly to her husband, acclaimed and renowned bark painter John Mawurndjul, Kay's work is distinctive fine 'rarrk' (crossing hatching) in natural ochre  on stringy bark. Her subject matter is Mimih spirit beings and themes that relate to her and her husband's homeland.

This particular painting, 'Mardayin' refers to the ceremony of the same name and, as mentioned, the sacred site, Dilebang. The white circles represent the water springs at Dilebang.  A similar work by John Mawurndjul of the same subject matter adorns the ceiling of the Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France. John Mawurndjul is culturally responsible for the 'Mardayin' ceremony his name 'Mawaurdjul' finds it's origin within 'Mardayin'. 

Kay Lindjuwanga was awarded the coveted Telstra Bark Painting Award at the National & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 2004.  

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory,Darwin, NT
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC                                                                                                                                                Macquarie Bank Art Collection
Walonia Aboriginal Art, Netherlands

EXHIBITIONS

Solo

2005 Bark paintings from Duwa Country, Aboriginal & Pacific Arts, Sydney

2004 Kay Lindjuwanga, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW

Group

2018 Mardayin, Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany

2016 Maningrida Arts, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT

2015 Exploration of Bark, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT

2014 Lift, Palya Art, WA

2014 Tracks: Land and Landscape in Aboriginal Art, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK

2011 28th Telstra National Aboriginal Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

2011 Maningrida, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW

2010 Gathered up : the Robin Gurr Collection, Penrith Regional Gallery

2009 Ochre - A Study in Materiality, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA

2009 Recent Works by Maningrida, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC

2008 African Muse, Écorces recentes de Maningrida, Galerie Luc Bertier, Paris, France

2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Art Fair, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne

2008 Gungura - The Spiraling Wind, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW

2007 Spirit in Variation, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW

2007 Rarrk, Bargehouse Gallery, London, UK

2007 After the Wet, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT

2006 Arts d’Océanie, Galerie DAD, Mantes-La-Jolie, France

2006 Dream Tracks, Aboriginal art of Arnhem Land, La Fontaine Centre of Contemporary Art, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

2006 Australian Aboriginal Art 2006/2007, John Gordon Gallery, Coffs Harbour, NSW

2006 Mumeka to Milmilngkan, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra, ACT

2006 Aboriginal printmakers, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT

2006 New prints from Maningrida, MAC, Darwin, NT

2006 A survey show from Maningrida, Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT

2006 Peintures sur Écorce de Maningrida, African Muse Gallery, Paris, France

2006 Dreaming Their Way, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, USA

2006 Sculptures from Maningrida, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC

2005 New works from Maningrida, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK

2005 Paris-Djinkarr-Milmilngkan, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT

2005 Recent works from Maningrida, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA

2005 Rarrk, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW

2004 21st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum & Art Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

2004 Hollow Logs from Maningrida, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC

2004 Maningrida Recent Works, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC

2004 Divas of the Desert:Maningrida, Minymaku, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT

2004 Maningrida Burial Poles, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK

2004 Crossing Country - The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art, AGNSW, Sydney, NSW

2004 Maningrida Print Show, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT

2004 New Etchings from Mimilngkan, Aboriginal & Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW

2003 The Visit, Annandale galleries, Sydney, NSW

2003 20th Telstra national Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

2003 Bark Paintings, Sculpture and Fibre work by the Maningrida Women Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC

2003 Out of the Wet - New Art by Kuninjku artists, Framed gallery, Darwin, NT

2003 Mythological Beings from Maningrida, Hogarth Galleris, Sydney, NSW

2002 Kuninjku, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK

2002 Inspiral, Gallery Gondawana, Alice Springs, NT

2002 East + West, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW

1999 My Country: Australische Aboriginal Kunst, Brandweer Kazerne, Utrecht, Netherlands

1993 Group Maningrida Exhibition, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW