On September 17, the Asia Society in New York will open a unique exhibition showcasing the rich history of Aboriginal Australian bark painting. “Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala” will feature works from the world’s foremost collections of these unique paintings, including thirty-three new pieces commissioned for this exhibition. Curated by the Yolŋu people of northeastern Arnhem Land, Australia—a group known for miny’tji or sacred designs intended to evoke and connect individuals and clan with land and the cosmos—this show inaugurates a new and exciting course for the Asia Society, which will focus more attention on Indigenous cultures in the region moving forward. It’s a rare opportunity for American audiences to experience ancient art practices that reveal some unexpected parallels and affinities with modern and contemporary abstraction.
Tomorrow (August 9) is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, also known as World Indigenous People’s Day, and Observer connected with Asia Society director Yasufumi Nakamori to discuss the importance of this show in a city like New York and the exhibition’s place in a time of widespread rediscovery of Indigenous practices and knowledge.
Kluge, Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. Edward L. Ruhe Collection, Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. Neil Greentree
What’s the importance of an exhibition like this for an institution like Asia Society, and how does it extend your mission to “explain the diversity of Asia to the United States and the complexity of the United States to Asia?”
At Asia Society, we look at Asia broadly, including the Pacific region and the Asian diaspora. Indigenous arts and culture in Asia and the Pacific have been an essential part of the remit of the Asia Society Museum, beginning with the 1988 exhibition “Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia,” one of the first in-depth exhibitions of its kind in the United States, and then “The Native Born“ (2002) that featured distinguished Australian Aboriginal artists from Ramingining, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. In the “Maḏayin” exhibition, the artistic practice by the Yolŋu people inhabiting northeastern Arnhem Land will be introduced to our New York City audience, and the Yolŋu delegation will have a dialogue with leaders of Lenape, the city’s indigenous people. In this exchange through the exhibition, the Lenape people’s shared history and current interests and concerns will be shared and reflected.
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There is a growing interest in Indigenous practices and knowledge in the contemporary art system, which became a central theme at this year’s Venice Biennale. What’s driving this rediscovery, and what are your thoughts about it?
The art world has been lately catching up in rediscovering the extraordinary aspects of Indigenous practices and knowledge, particularly in visual art, as we face such critical issues as climate emergency and environmental destruction and see their impact on the environment for arts and culture. While formal aspects of some of the Australian Aboriginal art (for example, Emily Kam Kngwarray’s abstract paintings) have common elements with some abstract work by non-indigenous contemporary artists (and therefore, her work could look familiar), Kngwarray’s work reminds us of her deeper interaction and experience with the environment, and her profound understanding of the phenomena across biological, physical, social, cultural and spiritual systems. These systems have inspired many artists and cultural practitioners outside the Indigenous world. Indigenous practices and knowledge have opened a new world of knowledge and references, which many in the U.S. are fascinated by.
How is this show positioned in the current moment of reevaluation? I understand that you intended for the exhibition to initiate broader intellectual endeavors for Asia Society, which includes more exploration of Indigenous cultures in Asia.
Unlike the upcoming National Gallery of Australia/Tate Modern exhibition “Emily Kam Kngwarr,” our exhibition “Maḏayin” will focus on the collective significance of the artistic community in Yirrkala. Led by Yolŋu knowledge holders and their world views, “Maḏayin” demonstrates the collective (and individual) artistic achievements of Yolŋu artists. It offers a rare opportunity for our audiences to experience an evocative and enduring artistic movement. My intent is, beginning with this exhibition, to show Indigenous art as parallel to modes of abstraction in other movements in modern and contemporary art history. “Maḏayin” begins our multi-year project on Indigenous Asian arts and culture.
The growth in interest and creation of an art market around Aboriginal art was not without controversy, from claims of exploitation to the diffusion of potential forgeries. How did you secure the quality and relevance of the works included in the show?
Our meaningful partnership with the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia and the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Australia helped us secure some of the world’s most important Aboriginal bark paintings for the exhibition from various collections, 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. All works in the exhibition were selected by the Yolŋu people.
What’s the role and importance of Indigenous practices and knowledge in the Asia region for you?
Growing up in Japan, I have paid attention to the arts and culture of the Ainu, who reside in northern Japan, including Hokkaido. The history of the Ainu people’s colonization and assimilation has been a necessary (but not much told) part of the history of modern Japan. For me, Indigenous practices and knowledge in Asia and the Pacific, in the context of visual art, offer us vast opportunities for learning and the potential to expand our understanding of art and culture.
Organizing an exhibition in New York featuring works from Australia must have presented some significant organizational and logistical challenges. What was the process of conceiving and organizing the exhibition in collaboration with the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia and the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Center in Australia like?
Thanks to the great efforts made by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia (in partnership with the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Center in Australia), the organization and logistics of bringing the exhibition to New York City have been relatively smooth. The challenges lie in how we interpret (true to the intent of the Yolŋu people) the exhibited works and present the exhibition as part of contemporary art. New York City remains one of the centers of modern culture, and we need to present “Maḏayin” as a critical part of the larger constellation of global contemporary art.
“Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala” opens September 17 at the Asia Society Museum in New York City and will run through January 5, 2025.
