BININJ DJANG (MEN DREAMING): JOE GUYMALA, SHAUN NAMARMYILK, GRAHAM BADARI, GLEN NAMUNDJA
Past exhibition
Shaun Namarnyilk
Untitled, 2021
acrylic on arches paper
154 x 102 cm
95-21
This painting is an analysis of the socio-economic systems operating in the Indigenous community of Gunbalanya. In the centre of the composition, Shaun has placed a gambling 'casino' circle where...
This painting is an analysis of the socio-economic systems operating in the Indigenous community of Gunbalanya. In the centre of the composition, Shaun has placed a gambling "casino" circle where people might sit all day and play cards for money. Below the casino, two young children are imploring their mother for money to buy something at the shop. The shop is shown with some kids breaking in through a window and passing goodies out the front door. Shaun has shown men drinking in the bush on the top right
of the painting. The men are sitting around a fire, and littering empty VB cans, and a fight is breaking out. As it is illegal to drink on country in western Arnhem Land, two police cars can be seen driving towards the men (and away from another fight in community) On the left of the composition Shaun has painted three men cutting bark to paint on, with the Injalak Arts Troopcarrier visible behind the tree. Below the traditional materials harvesting, are two men who are cooking a kangaroo on a fire. The bottom right of the painting shows a huge fight between seven men, an Old lady who uses a mobility scooter can be seen shouting from the side-lines.
This work could be understood as a commentary on the structural inequality that many people living in Aboriginal communities face. With often incompatible expectations placed upon Indigenous people of all ages by the diametrically opposed socio-economic systems in which they live.
of the painting. The men are sitting around a fire, and littering empty VB cans, and a fight is breaking out. As it is illegal to drink on country in western Arnhem Land, two police cars can be seen driving towards the men (and away from another fight in community) On the left of the composition Shaun has painted three men cutting bark to paint on, with the Injalak Arts Troopcarrier visible behind the tree. Below the traditional materials harvesting, are two men who are cooking a kangaroo on a fire. The bottom right of the painting shows a huge fight between seven men, an Old lady who uses a mobility scooter can be seen shouting from the side-lines.
This work could be understood as a commentary on the structural inequality that many people living in Aboriginal communities face. With often incompatible expectations placed upon Indigenous people of all ages by the diametrically opposed socio-economic systems in which they live.