NYM BUNDUK - UNTITLED
NYM BUNDUK
UNTITLED, 1973
63 x 23 cm
Natural Earth Pigments on Bark
REGION
Wadeye, Port Keats
PROVENANCE
Painted at Wadeye (Port Keats), NT
Private Collection, UK
STORY
Nym Bunduk was one of the most influential Aboriginal elders of his time, and a leading artist among the Murrinhpatha and other groups who lived in and around the community of Wadeye (Port Keats) in the Fitzmaurice River region south-west of Darwin. He is renowned for his relationship with the eminent anthropologist W E H Stanner, whom he met in 1935 when Stanner accompanied a group of Catholic missionaries to establish a station in the region. Over the course of nearly five decades, Bunduk interpreted his extensive knowledge of Aboriginal culture, society and law for Stanner, allowing the latter to better understand the Aboriginal condition, belief systems, philosophies and aspirations in a changing world. Stanner, in turn, would use the knowledge and understanding he received from Bunduk to influence official government policies towards Indigenous people.
ARTIST PROFILE
