| Date of birth : 1950 Language : Ganalbingu Clan : Gurrumba Gurrumba Social Affiliations : Yirritja moiety, Ngarritjan subsection |
Wugukwuguk only started to paint in the early 1980s after being taught by her father Turkey Djipurru at Nangalala. She is one of a small but growing group of serious woman painters in Central Arnhem Land. In the 1960s, after a wave of interest in Aboriginal art, several major artists in this area taught their daughters to paint. Some men did not have a son to pass this skill onto, or, many were impressed with their daughter's interest and "good hand".
Wugukwuguk most commonly paints the edible tuber called Manyigani (an unidentified plant), the water python, file snake or fresh water fish from the Arafura Swamp. Her work is characterised by long sensuous lines, dynamically illustrating snake or plant. Her rrark or cross hatching is quite individual.
Commonly known as Clara Wubukwubuk, she changed her name to Matjandatjpi a few years ago after her grandmother died.
Select Group Exhibitions:
1984, Buyu-Ramingining Weaving, Crafts Council, NT
1988, Biennale of Sydney, Aboriginal Memorial, Pier One, Sydney
1989, Ramingining, Gamununggu Miyalk, women painters, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
1990, Ramingining Art, Birukmarri Gallery, Fremantle.
1989, Recent Works from Ramingining and Maningrida, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Paddington, NSW
1991, Lions Haven Aboriginal Art Exhibition, Pacific Fair Shoppping Centre, Gold Coast, QLD
1991, Ramingining, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria
1994, The Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1996, Bula’bula Arts, Ramingining, Anima Gallery, Adelaide
1996, Islands: Contemporary Installations, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
1998, My Land, My Country, Michel Sourgnes Gallery, Brisbane
1999, 16th Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
1999, Geelong Print Prize, Geelong Art Gallery
1999, Community Printmakers of Murwillumbah Biennial
1999, Le Memorial un chef-d'oeuvre d'art aborigine, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland; State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid
2000, Ramingining Artists, Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney
2000, Aboriginal Art in Modern Worlds, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2001, To Have and Behold: Collectors and Collections of Aboriginal Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
2002, Water Country, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA
2002, Fibre Art, Raft Artspace, Parap, Darwin
2002, Miyalk Djama, Indigenart, Subiaco, WA
2003, Out of the Dilly Bag, Bright!, St Kilda, Victoria
2003, Guridji Djama, Thornquest Gallery, Southport, QLD
2003, Bula’bula Arts at the Virginia Fringe Film Festival, Virginia, USA
2004, Buyu: Weaving from Ramingining, Budds Beach Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Qld
2004, Artists from Ramingining, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2005, Woven Forms, Object Gallery, Sydney and touring Australia
2005, Yaku Yindi: Big Names from Ramingining, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2005, Land of Diversity, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2005, Pandanus to Paper: Northern Editions, Charles Darwin University, Darwin
2006, Bula’bula Arts in 3D, Gallerie Australis, Adelaide
2006, Recently Ramingining, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2006, Out of the Dilly Bag and into the Canoe, Brightspace! St Kilda
2006, Gunga Dhawu (Pandanus story), Territory Craft, Darwin
2007, Palya Art In Melbourne, (Helen Read), Kew, Vic
2007, Woven Forms: Contemporary Basket Making in Australia, Museum of Brisbane, Qld
Collections:
Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove, Glasgow
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, USA
Museum of Mankind, British Museum, London
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Tweed River Regional Art Gallery
Publications:
2000, Brambuk hosts visiting artists, Stawell Times News, June 30, 2000 p. 15 (with photo)
Caruana, W., 1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London.
Mundine, Djon, 2001, The Native Born: Objects and Representations from Ramingining, Arnhem Land, MCA & Bula’bula Arts
Parkes, Brian, 2005, Woven Forms: Contemporary Basket Making in Australia, Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design, Sydney, exhib. cat.
Commissions:
1989/90, John Kluge, Painting Their Land Commission, USA
1993, Gold Coast Year of Indigenous Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Centre
1993, Traditional Prize, Botany Art Awards, Botany Council, NSW
1999, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery CPM Print Acquisition Award, for etching “Yatjuk Yatjuk”.
2000, SOCOG commission for two woven installations for Olympic Games
2002, Painting acquired as First Prize for the Brisbane International Film Festival, Best Film
Copyright Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation
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Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation
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