Gurtha (Road closed for Ceremony)
2021
- Medium
- etched road sign
- Measurements
- 62.8 × 180.0 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Yirrkala, Northern Territory
- Accession Number
- 2022.930
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Christopher Thomas AM and Cheryl Thomas, 2022
© Wanapati Yunupiŋu - Gallery location
- Level 2, NGV International
- About this work
-
Wanapati Yunupiŋu’s unique artistic style showcases his exceptional creativity and deep spiritual connection with his Community and homeland. He skilfully carves his sacred Gumatj clan patterns and stories onto forgotten street signs, as in the case of Gurtha (Road closed for Ceremony), or discarded metal sheets. These intricate diamond designs encode a visual narrative from the ‘beforetimes’, recounting a significant ceremony at Ŋalarrwuy in Gumatj Country, where the leaders of Yirritja moiety clans first utilised fire. The diamond design has since then been associated with these events, and for Yolŋu people will forever embody fire – its vibrant red flames, white smoke and ash, black charcoal and yellow dust, as well as the black skin, yellow fat, white bone and red blood of the Gumatj people.