MAYATILI MARIKA BRINGS YOLNGU SPIRIT TO GLOBAL STAGE THROUGH ART, FASHION & CULTURE
By Renata Kelly and Tangiora Hinaki
A bilingual educator, curator and the designer from the Yolngu nation of Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, Mayatili Marika, connects powerful Yolngu practices with contemporary designs. Spirit and connection to country is art that isn't separate from the daily world, as it is woven into their identity.” There is no separation between art and life,” she says. “Art, Identity, spirit and our connection to the land and sea make us who we are.” Mayatili carries ancestral knowledge to the present moment with purpose, clarity and strength.
During her time in Osaka, Japan. Marika and her fellow artist Lucy Simpson launched the Countryman Collective, labelling their connections to fresh water and salt water, with growing inspirations from the Japanese design aesthetics alongside the grounding within the indigenous approaches to sustainability by reusing secondhand rangers and military uniforms, which are dyed and reconstructed into fashion and accessories. “We’re taking what already exists on the planet and transforming it with our hands, knowledge and stories,” she says. “It‘s two worlds colliding.”
Mayatili paid tribute to the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation’s project. Having played a key role in raising First Nations artists' and designers' profiles across Australia, with the presence of death and the strength of ancestral memory,” we haven’t always had visibility, we haven't always been seen, and we haven't always been heard,” she stated. “But DAAF is such an important space for us all to unite. Fashion is a universal language, a form of diplomacy between mobs and nations.”
Heading to New York City next, Mayatili prepares to share her culture with the world as an act of contribution, honouring languages, country, and legacy. She will contribute to reopening the Rockefeller wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during her time there. The museum will permanently house a collection dedicated to the Indigenous cultures of Oceania, including Australia and Torres Strait Islander communities.” Our memories are our futures,” Marika says.” We are who we are today because of those who came before us.”
Click on the link below to listen to the full interview.