RISE. Yolngu considerations of climate change+sea-level rise 2021

This exhibition sees four artists illuminate the saltwater estate of Rulyapa-part of the ocean between Yirrkala and Dhambaliya (Bremer Island), in North-East Arnhem Land.

The artists merge tradition with knowledge that is as solid as a rock: the patterns that show their obligations and the raw kinetic power of water. These obligations now converge with global existential frames of ecocide and rising mean sea levels.

One guide in this choppy water is Siena Stubbs, who writes within The past is in the present is in the future: 'For 60,000 years, awe as Yolngu have lived in harmony with the land through our system of gurruṯu, the system that relates everything in the world to each other. Through gurruṯu, everything is connected. I relate to you, you relate to me, we relate to everything in the world, From the wäkuṉ (mullet) in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the current they follow, to the pockets of rainforests that surround us and the guyita (witchetty grubs) within them.' (1)

Then consider Dhuwarrwarr Marika's larrakitj (hollow ceremonial log), painted with white gapan (ceremonial clay). The larrakitj represents the unwavering rock that grounds each clan to their identity while ephemeral gapan shows the changing clouds re-building with every passing season. Dhuwarrwarr's series of paintings titled Gäma-Wukitj Rulyapa, give voice to the power of the waves as they crash and swirl around the semi-submerged rock.

The eloquence of sea country is visualised as a part of the estates passed down through Yolngu clans-Dhuwarrwarr Marika is Siena's waku (great-grandmother). Sea country forms part of an indissoluble whole estate. Clan members belong to it, identify and are identified with it and have delineated responsibilities for its care-from the most powerful elements to the barely-there. Djalinda Yunupingu for example, paints gossamer Yathiny, a type of blue sea anemone that floats on the waters surface where turtles swim, and upon which they feed.