Yirrinkiri Jilamara

Artist Pedro Wonaeamirri (1974)

Printer Australian Print Workshop Inc (Australian)

Date2006

Object number00045081

NameLithograph

MediumPaper (Velin Arches 250gsm), ink

DimensionsOverall: 760 x 560 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Terms

DescriptionThis ochre, orange and black lithograph is a design from the Pukumani burial ceremonies performed by the Tiwi. The pattern features dots, dotted lines, cross hatching and diamond shapes to form the vertical and horizontal columns. Artist's statement: 'This is a design from our Pukumani burial ceremonies: it is the pattern we paint on tutini or grave posts. We have conducted these ceremonies for centuries, well before the Dutch first came to Melville Island 300 years ago. It is hard for us to imagine how far those first Dutch sailors had to travel to get here, but when they got here my people were already doing Pukumani.' 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.