DAMIEN WRIGHT and BONHULA YUNUPINGU

Makarrata is a work that unites two men in the process of reparative justice - an act that acknowledges past harm and need for repair. Makarrata is a Yolŋu word which can mean piercing the thigh with a spear. The sculpture depicts this process - the violence of coming together through peace-making.

Bonhula describes Makarrata as an important work in the understanding of a term that is widely used but little known. ‘Everyone’s talking about makarrata, but no one knows what it is, balanda (white man) need to know the story’. He goes on to explain that in Yolŋu law there was conflict between baru (crocodile) and gawangal k’mirri (stingray). Makarrata was needed to break the cycle of injustice, to create peace and harmony.

Makarrata combines colonial and Yolŋu joinery. The sculpture is made from salvaged gadayka (Darwin stringybark), ancient red gum, LED light and recovered copper wire. The Gadayka in this work is a recovered waste product of bauxite mining on Bonhula’s country. Ancient red gum is a globally significant material that is mined from the earth. Over the course of 10,000 years the tree transitions from red to jet black. The spear throwing man is produced from gadayka, whilst the balanda is made from ancient red gum. The balanda is accepting responsibility in a move toward resolution. The gurtha (light/fire) escapes out the cracks of the red gum, symbolising optimism in decay. Makarrata is the first time that Damien and Bonhula have depicted these two characters physically entwined. In previous works they have walked together but do not touch.

Makarrata is the sixth work in the Bala Ga’ Lili series, a body of timber sculptures that visually represent the tension inherent in First Nations and Settler Colonial relationships. It acknowledges past harm and the need for repair.

Bala Ga’ Lili, like Makarrata has layers of meanings. Bala Ga’ Lili is about collaboration and the creative moments that materialise from difference. Bala Ga’ Lili describes the place where salt water and fresh water mix to create brackish water. Bonhula describes that in the brackish water there is an act of mixing that is key to collaboration. Makarrata is a moment of mixing, of coming together in resolution. Makarrata is about vulnerable acceptance of responsibility and the many layers of law that govern this country and its people.

Bala Ga’ Lili is the name of Bonhula Yunupingu and Damien Wright’s creative practice. The pair are long time collaborators, working between N.E Arnhem Land and Northcote, Melbourne. Damien is a balanda, a white man, a settler. Bonhula is Yolŋu of the Gumatj clan. The language of difference and tension permeates their creativity. Together they produce design, generating new knowledge.

Makarrata, 2023
Gadayka (Darwin stringybark), ancient red gum, LED light, recovered copper wire
2700mm L x 2200mm W x 1800mm H
$28,000