Dorothy Djukulul Alternative Spelling Djukululu, Djugulu, Djugulul,
Born: 10.06.1942 Community Centre: Ramingining Country: Mulgurrum, Central Arnhem Land Language: Ganalbingu Collections Held: Artbank, Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide. Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany. Milingimbi Collection, MECA, Milingimbi Educational and Cultural Association. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney. The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth. Wollongong City Art Gallery, Wollongong. Group Exhibitions: 1974 to 1976, Art of Aboriginal Australia, touring Canada, Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd. 1982, Aboriginal Art at the Top, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 1983, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne 1986, Dorothy Djukulul and Djardie Ashley, Aboriginal Artist's Gallery, Melbourne 1987, The Fourth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1988, Dorothy Djukulul and Djardie Ashley, Esplanade Gallery, Darwin NT 1988, The Fifth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1988, Sydney Biennale, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 1988, Karnta, Touring South-east Asia, [non selling Karnta show] 1989, Ramingining, Gamununggu Miyalk, women painters, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs 1989, The Sixth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1989, Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 1989, Masterpiece Fine Art Gallery, Hobart. 1990, Women from Ramingining, a Girls Own Gallery, Canberra, ACT 1990, Dorothy Djukul and Djardie Ashley, Coo-ee Gallery, Paddington NSW 1992/3, New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring USA and Australia 1993, Prints by Ramingining Artists, Hogarth Gallery, Paddington, NSW 1993/4, ARATJARA, Art of the First Australians, Touring: Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; Hayward Gallery, London; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark 1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria. 1994, The Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1994, Yiribana, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 1995, The Best Face Value for Autumn, Wollongong City Art Gallery, Wollongong, New South Wales Awards\Grants\Commissions: 1991, John Kluge - Painting the Land Collection, Virginia USA Select Bibliography: Contemporary Aboriginal Art, The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings, Perth 1990. Groger-Wurm, H., 1973, Australian Aboriginal Paintings and their Mythological Interpretation, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. (C) 1993, Aratjara, Art of the First Australians: Traditional and Contemporary Works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists, exhib. cat. (conceived and designed by Bernard Luthi in collaboration with Gary Lee), Dumont, Buchverlag, Koln. (C) Isaacs, J., 1989 Australian Aboriginal Paintings, Weldon Publishing, New South Wales ~ Neale, M., 1994 Yiribana, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. © Courtesy of © Discovery Media, Documentation Pty Ltd, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and Bulla Bulla Arts Details This artist was born in 1942 at Murrwangi near Mulgurrum, on the edges of the Arafura Swamp. Her father, Nhulmarmar was a famous bark painter who works hang in major art galleries and have been featured in authentic art books. The family crossed from the mainland over to Milingimbi Island, where the Methodist Mission had established a school. The superintendent recognised Dorothy's artistic talent, and encouraged her to paint in the western style, but after school each day her father and her uncle taught her to paint on bark in the old traditional way, using natural ochres and bush brushes. They did not, however, pass on any of their sacred designs to her, as the recording of the history and religion of the tribe is regarded as "men's business" throughout Arnhem Land. After completing school she went back to the mainland with her family, and helped build the stockyards and muster cattle on foot at Ramingining, then moved to Maningrida, about 200 miles distant, to marry her promised husband, an old man. For a while she was employed in the bakery, but moved back to Ramingining when her husband died. After a while she met and married Djardi Ashley, a well-known bark painter, who encouraged her to paint. Her old father, Nhulmarmar, was becoming very worried because he had only one son, George Milpurrurru, to carry on his designs and stories. He consulted with the elders and eventually obtained their permission for Dorothy to be allowed to paint the traditional designs so that there would be a better chance of the art and sacred stories of the Ganalbingu tribe being kept alive. In this way she occupies a special place in Aboriginal art in that she has been allowed to paint designs normally taboo to women. Within these designs and traditional religious stories she has developed her own unique style which separates her from other artists. Her style and "hand' are much admired by Aboriginal people and Europeans alike. She exhibits an inner strength which underlies the power of her own character, enabling her to continue to paint through the years despite social pressures often exerted to keep her in her place. Recently a well-known male artist joked while viewing one of her Flying Fox paintings, "That Djukulul, she paints just like a man". Dorothy has had several exhibitions of her work and has been written up in authentic art books. Her paintings are eagerly sought after by discerning collectors, and some of her paintings have fetched up to $15,000.
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