ASIA WEEK NEW YORK AUTUMN 2024 EXHIBITION
Yäma Munuŋgirritj (ca. 1920–1987), Yarrwiḏi-Gumatj clan. Gurruŋawuy, 1961, natural pigments on bark, h:28 x w:15 in. (71.1 x 38.1 cm); Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia; Edward L. Ruhe Collection, Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997; 1993.0004.041
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala
September 17, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Asia Society Members Celebration: Wednesday, Sept 18, 5:30-9:00pm
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala presents a watershed moment in global art history, sharing with the American public a history of Aboriginal Australian bark painting curated by Yolŋu knowledge holders from Arnhem Land in Northern Australia. For millennia, Yolŋu have painted their sacred clan designs on their bodies and ceremonial objects. These designs—called miny’tji—are not merely decorative: they are the patterns of the ancestral land itself. Yolŋu describe them as maḏayin: a term that encompasses both the sacred and the beautiful. In the early twentieth century, they turned to the medium of painting with natural pigments on eucalyptus bark, creating shimmering artworks to share their identities through trade, political activism, and diplomacy. Expressing the power and beauty of their culture, these artists continue to find new and innovative ways to transform their ancient clan designs into compelling contemporary statements.
Led by Yolŋu knowledge holders and their world views, Maḏayin offers a rare opportunity for American audiences to experience an evocative and enduring artistic movement, with parallels to modes of abstraction in other movements within modern and contemporary art history.
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala was organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia in partnership with the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Australia. The exhibition’s presentation culminates in New York at Asia Society, which has been instrumental in the advancement of this art since organizing the 1988 presentation Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, one of the first in-depth exhibitions of its kind in the United States.
Drawn from the world’s most important holdings of Aboriginal bark paintings, including the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, the University of Melbourne, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and the National Gallery of Australia, Maḏayin encompasses eight decades of artistic production at Yirrkala, from 1935 to the present, including 33 new works commissioned especially for the exhibition through the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre.
We welcome our Asia Society Members to join us on the evening of Wednesday, September 18 for a program with Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, a reception with the Yolŋu delegation, and exhibition tours.
To learn more, click here.
PAST RELATED EVENTS
Richard Bell, Embassy, 2013–ongoing. 20th Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Public program 9 March 2016. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Tate, with support from the Qantas Foundation in 2015, purchased 2017
Viewpoints: Art and Post-Colonial Activism
Conversation with Artist Richard Bell and Carin Kuoni
Friday, November 15, 2024, 6:30–8:30pm
Tickets: $30 Nonmembers; $20 Members; Discount for Seniors/Students
Can art have social impact? For years, the artist Richard Bell has been working at the crossroad of art and political issues, advocating for Indigenous sovereignty through activism. Through his multimedia art practice, he addresses the mainstream systemic colonialism that permeates Australian society, a reality that many First Nations people around the world continue to experience. In this conversation, Bell will be joined by Carin Kuoni, Senior Director and Chief Curator of Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, to retrace his journey from activist to artist, and how his work and his role in the Aboriginal art community shapes the discourse on Indigenous and human rights in Australia and beyond.
Viewpoints is an annual series in which prominent, visionary figures in the creative arts are interviewed on-stage before a public audience, about their work, career, and relationship with Asia. Viewpoints has been made possible by the generous support of Aashish and Dinyar S. Devitre, with support from Milani Gallery and OSMOS.
This conversation is part of a series of programs held in conjunction with the Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala.
To learn more, click here.
Richard Bell: Embassy at Asia Society
An Afternoon of conversations on Indigenous sovereignty, land rights, and arts education
Saturday, November 16, 2024, 12:30–6:00pm
Free Event
We are proud to present the artist Richard Bell’s major work, Embassy (2013–ongoing). Bell is a member of the Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang communities. He works in the intersection of activism and art and is committed through his practice the politics of Aboriginal emancipation and self-determination. His mediums include painting, installation, performance, and video, through which he explores the complex artistic and political problems of Western, colonial and Indigenous art production.
Embassy is a space for activism and dialogue in support of Aboriginal and Indigenous land rights. It is activated through a series of public events. Created in 2013, it is inspired by the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy, which was pitched on the grounds of Canberra’s Parliament House in 1972 by four young activists. It has previously been presented at various locations around the world, including Tate Modern, London (2023); documenta fifteen, Kassel (2022); 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016); and Performa 15, New York (2015).
The Asia Society edition of Embassy features an afternoon of conversations joined by artists, scholars, and educators focusing on issues including Indigenous sovereignty, land rights, and arts education in Australia and North America.
Embassy is part of a series of programs held in conjunction with the Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala.
Also on view at Asia Society are Richard Bell’s painting, Umbrella Tent Embassy (2023), and the exhibition Approaching Abstraction: Contemporary Aboriginal Art Across Australia.
To view the schedule of events, click here.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Storage Jar. Korea. Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), about mid-18th century. Porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue. Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.196
Luminous Stars from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
September 17, 2024 – January 5, 2025
The six objects highlighted in this focused exhibition demonstrate the rigorous collecting of preeminent Asian art objects by Asia Society’s founder, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, and his wife, Blanchette. Through numerous trips to Asia, the couple cultivated an interest in Asian art, appreciating its exquisite craftsmanship, moving artistic expression, and historical and cultural significance in the realm of global art. They built their collection primarily from 1963 to 1978 under the supervision of the late Dr. Sherman Lee (1918–2008), an expert in the field of Asian art and Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In 1979, the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of nearly three hundred works from South, Southeast, and East Asia dating from 2000 BCE to the 19th century was established at Asia Society.
The Rockefellers bequeathed their collection in support of their mission to expand knowledge and interest in Asia, believing that art provides the strongest bridge to understanding and valuing world cultures. Further exploration of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection will continue in Asia Society galleries in the spring of 2025 with a large-scale exhibition focusing on these and other treasures in dialogue with work and ideas by three New York-based contemporary artists: Howardena Pindell, Byron Kim, and Rina Banerjee.
To learn more, click here.
Approaching Abstraction: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Across Australia
September 18, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Throughout Australia, many visual traditions have evolved over thousands of years that use abstract forms or patterns to represent elements of Aboriginal Country and culture. From the 1970s, an increase in the recognition of Aboriginal artistic traditions saw the birth of art movements that swept the continent and continue to this day. Today an exciting dynamism is witnessed as leading Aboriginal artists seek to invigorate their traditions in ever more unique and contemporary ways.
This focused exhibition, organized by Asia Society, presents the work of five Aboriginal artists of multiple generations hailing from across Australia, revealing the extraordinary diversity and abundance of a still-young field. Emily Kam Kngwarray, Carlene West, Yinarupa Nangala, and Bill “Whiskey” Tjapaltjarri are each eminent artists from different areas and moments in desert painting movements, while Reko Rennie’s work exemplifies the resurgence of Aboriginal cultures and art from Australia’s urbanized southeast.
For more information, click here.
