Yolŋu weaver Margaret Rarru Garrawurra wins prestigious NATSIAA

A Territory artist has taken out the nation’s most affluent and prestigious art prize. See who it is here:

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August 5, 2022 - 6:01PM

Indigenous Affairs

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A REMOTE Territory artist has won the nation’s richest art prize.

Yolŋu weaver Margaret Rarru Garrawurra won the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and the $100,000 in prize money for her Dhomala (pandanus sail).

Born in Galiwin’ku, Ms Garrawurra now lives on Laŋarra Country off the coast of northeast Arnhem, where she continues to use traditional weaving practices found in the Indo-Pacific.

Ms Garrawurra’s large scale boat sail pays homage to her cultural identity, as well as the historical relationships between Yolŋu people and the modern-day Indonesia.

“Yolŋu people were watching Makassan people weaving their dhomala over time ... then they started to make them,” she said.

After watching her father’s hands lace together as a younger woman, Ms Garrawurra said she “started remembering”.

“My father picked up the skill as well. He used to make them, Makassan dhomala. I was watching my father making these dhomala,” she said.

Margaret Rarru Garrawurra, Senior Yolngu artist from northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is the 2022 Telstra Art Award $100,000 prize winner with Dhomala (pandanus sail) 2022. Picture: Charlie Bliss

Ms Garrawurra’s ambitious piece also calls on traditional drying and dying practices to achieve a deep red, black, orange and yellow in horizontal weave across the piece.

NATSIAA judges congratulated Ms Garrawurra for her powerful and ambitious work.

“Rarru Garrawurra has created a monumental sculpture that is both majestic in scale and exacting in technical virtuosity,” the judges said in a statement.

“Hers is a powerful work which reminds us that Yolŋu have long been active and intrepid explorers, participating in international trade since well before the arrival of the Europeans.”

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) hosted what is now the longest running Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art awards in the country and, following a decision early this year, major sponsor Telstra doubled the prise money for the main award.

In total artists now share in a total of $190,000 (previously $80,000).

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) director Adam Worrall gave his congratulations to the master weaver.

“I was captivated by how she has transformed her knowledge of Yolŋu weaving into this iconic Makassan design typology,” he said.

“(The Telstra NATSIAA) provide a valuable platform where artists share ideas, mediums and practices which are happening right now and allows visitors to see a snapshot of the magnificent artworks currently being created around the country.”

In total seven artists received various prizes for categories across painting, bark, 3D, multimedia and emerging.

The curation is the genius of Rebekah Raymond and includes a number of works on black walls, intentionally questioning the history of white walled galleries. Not unlike Rarru’s work this year you weave through a series of speaces that transition between colour and textile.

All works will be on display from Saturday August 6, 2022 till Sunday January 15, 2023 at The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in Darwin.