"Seeing Mardayin': Instability and Ambiguity in the Art of John Mawurndjul, Kuninjku, Arnhem Land, Northern Australia

Abstract

According to the ‘Yolngu’ and ‘Kuninjku’ peoples of Arnhem Land, northern Australia their art connects knowledge to the land. Land comes into being as a part of an ancestral dreaming enacted through performative storytelling. In this region a particular technique for revealing elements of nature is used called ‘rarrk’. The technique employs a crosshatched layering of coloured lines. The surface of these images present a powerful but ambiguous visual and emotional effect on the viewer. It creates a dialogue not ordinarily possible with more traditional flattened or chiaroscuro techniques. Similar yet distinct from the more familiar moire effects of the early twentieth century European Impressionists, the technique is a peculiarly potent method for communicating a local cultural heritage knowledge to those initiated in its conventions. The work of a local Aboriginal artist who specializes in rarrk, Mawurndjul, is explored as a case study in the stability and ambiguity of the images generated using this technique. The paper explores the technique, its use and effectiveness and suggests it as a cultural heritage knowledge communication schema, highlighting the plethora of schemas yet to be explored in cultural heritage knowledge visualisation in general.