Maningrida, on the coast of Arnhem Land, is one of the principal bark-painting centres of aboriginal Australia. It owes its origins as a settlement to the trade in woven pandanus artefacts. From that modest beginning – in 1949 – it has grown into a thriving cultural community, noted for its bark painting, sculpture, fibre-art and print-making.
A gathering place for many different aboriginal language-groups, the style of its art is both rich and varied. It includes the austere abstraction of John Mawurndjul, the raw energy of Mick Kubarkku and Lena Yarinkura, and the precise beauty of Owen Yalandja’s painted yawk yawk carvings.
