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
Dorothy 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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