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Image Not Available for The Macassan prahu
The Macassan prahu
Image Not Available for The Macassan prahu

The Macassan prahu

Artist (1946)
Printer (Australian)
Date2006
Object number00045074
NameLinocut
MediumPaper (Velin Arches 250gsm), ink
DimensionsOverall: 560 × 760 mm
Image: 442 × 598 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
DescriptionThis black linocut depicts a prahu, the traditional sailing boat of Indonesia, along with its crew and cargo. Artist's statement: 'For some 300 years, until the beginning of the twentieth century, Macassan fishermen from what is now Sulawesi in Indonesia used to sail to the northern shores of Australia every monsoon season to collect sea cucumbers (trepang). They introduced metal to the Yolngu (Aboriginal people of eastern Arnhem Land) as well as words which are still in use today: the Yolngu word for 'outsider' is balanda, a variation on the word 'Hollander'. The prahu, with its distinctive sails and two rudders, is shown with its crew, the cargo of sacks of rice, trepang, and swords and axes. The background design is the Rirratjingu clan design for water.' This print is one of 10 in the DUYFKEN Aboriginal Print Portfolio and is presented as a boxed set. The series was launched in Sydney on 28 October 2006 by Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.HistoryIn 1606, Willem Janszoon commanded the DUYFKEN in Australia's northern waters, searching for proof that the country would be a good trading partner with the vast VOC - Dutch United East India Company. The west coast of Cape York Peninsula became the first documented landing of Europeans on the Australian mainland, although Janszoon concluded that there would be little prospect of trade. This print is part of the DUYFKEN Aboriginal Print Portfolio, a collaboration between the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Australian Print Workshop (APW) in Fitzroy, Melbourne. In July 2006, ten of Australia's talented and emerging Indigenous artists were brought to Melbourne to take part in APW's printmaking workshop. The theme of the portfolio is 'first encounters' and the title takes its name from the first Dutch ship to land on Australian shores. The artists were chosen to represent the regions visited by the Dutch to produce a permanent record of the 400 years of Dutch contact with Australia. These regions include Melville Island, Arnhem Land, Cape York, Western Australia and Tasmania. Techniques used include photo-lithograph, linocut and hard-ground etchings The portfolio was sponsored by Forbo Flooring, Rabobank Australia, Rio Tinto Aluminium and Wesfarmers Arts and is limited to 50 numbered copies plus five artist's proofs, two APW proofs and two Presentation proofs.SignificanceThis print, along with the complete DUYFKEN Aboriginal Print Portfolio, is an important representation of Indigenous reactions to the first documented landing of Europeans on the Australian mainland; 400 years on, this portfolio was produced to commemorate the enduring maritime link between the Netherlands and Australia. The artists were selected from a variety of regions that had early interactions with the Dutch, in order to acknowledge the varying experiences Aboriginal peoples of Australia had of early European contact.