Ms N. Marawili and her art – Howard and Frances Morphy in conversation

In conjunction with the exhibition FLUENT: Ms N. Marawili and Leo Loomans at the Drill Hall Gallery, join respected anthropologists Howard and Frances Morphy as they discuss their 50-year history with artist Ms N. Marawili and her homebase of Yirrkala in far northeast Arnhem Land.

Frances Morphy is an Honorary Associate Professor in the ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), has specialised in linguistics of the Yolngu-speaking peoples of north-east Arnhem Land and is the co-editor of the award-winning Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia (2nd edn published 2019).

Emeritus Professor Howard Morphy is the Head of Centre for Digital Humanities Research at the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences. He has conducted extensive fieldwork with the Yolngu people of Northern Australia and published widely in anthropology and museum studies with a primary focus on art, material culture and land rights. Frances and Howard began working with Yolngu people in 1974, with subsequent research visits continuing to the present. They were the expert witnesses in the Blue Mud Bay case, in which Yolngu art as law (rom) was integral to the case.

For more information on the exhibition and related events, see our website: https://dhg.anu.edu.au/event_post/fluent-nonggirrnga-marawili-and-leo-loomans/

Image left: Ms N. Marawili, Djapu Design , 2019, natural earth pigments on bark, 161 x 75 cm. Image right: Ms N. Marawili, Baratjala, 2018, natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on bark 214 x 84 cm. All works courtesy Hassall /Milson Collection. Copyright the artist and Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre.

Registration is free but essential to attend. Please register using this link.