Coinciding with Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala, NGV Kids presents an all-ages exhibition, The Gecko and the Mermaid: Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu and her sister, that celebrates the work of two pioneering artists and sisters, Ms N Yunupingu and Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupingu. In this episode, we hear from Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu who shares the story of her conception, where her unborn spirit visited her father in the form of a mermaid, and how her father tried to spear the mermaid, believing the spirit to be fish. He then fell asleep and upon waking, Yunupiŋu’s mother confirmed with her husband that she was with child, thus bringing their daughter into the world.
The interactive kids exhibition is inspired by three recently acquired vivid and technicolour bark paintings by Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu titled I am a Mermaid, New Generation and My Wedding on display in the Bark Ladies exhibition. A floor-to-ceiling installation of seventeen colourful screenprints, linocuts and lithographs by Ms N Yunupiŋu depicting geckos, turtles and lizards, have also informed and inspired the interactive spaces in the exhibition.
In this episode, we also hear from award-winning Yolŋu artist, author and filmmaker Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs, who is the granddaughter of these Yunupiŋu sisters. Stubbs has collaborated with NGV on the new NGV kids’ publication 123 Turtles and Geckos, which takes young readers on a counting adventure across Country with Stubbs and her grandmother, Ms N Yunupiŋu. Stubbs’ voice can also be heard in animations throughout the kid’s exhibition teaching children to pronounce words in the Yolŋu Matha language.
The Gecko and the Mermaid: Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu and Her Sister is generously supported by Packer Family and Crown Resorts Foundations, City of Melbourne and Spencer Ko.
Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala is generously supported by:
