dhambit-ruypu-munungurr
Homeland: Waṉḏaway
Clan: Djapu
Moiety:
Dhambit is the daughter of two winners of the First Prize in the National Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Art Award, Mutitjpuy Munuŋgurr and Gulumbu Yunupiŋu. Her grandfathers are Woŋgu and Muŋgurrawuy who themselves are legendary leaders and artists. She was hit by a car in 2007 and suffered serious head injuries which were life threatening. She is currently in a wheelchair with restrictions on movement and speech stemming from those head injuries. In 2021 she was announced as the winner of the Best Bark prize in the National aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Art Award.
She paints with her non-preferred left hand. She used art to rehabilitate herself. Painting constantly and selling or giving away art to anyone who showed an interest. She painted and sold her work from home as an independent artist for many years. She used acrylics in ochre colours to overcome the difficulty of grinding the ochres by hand which was beyond her capacity. She often painted on boards to avoid the obstacle of cutting bark. She was supported in all of this by her French partner Tony Gintz who would also cut bark for her but not enough to keep up with her prolific constant creation. As time progressed Dhambit began to include non-earth colours in her work such as green to depict trees. In 2018 she accepted an invitation from her art centre to produce a large bark for inclusion in the Aboriginal Art Award. This autobiographical piece was produced in daily sessions in the courtyard of Buku-Larrŋgay and set the pattern for the next phase of her career. The regard and attention that this piece garnered encouraged further production of large pieces and brought her to the attention of Tony Elwood of the NGV who met her in the courtyard on a visit to Yirrkala. By this stage she had settled on blue as the dominant colour for these large pieces. Elwood invited her to be a major artist in the 2020 NGV International Biennale on the spot.
Through her husband’s and now deceased mother’s persistence and her own courage she has used art to overcome the deficits caused by the accident. She practised as an artist prior to the accident and was credited as an artist in the film Yolŋu Boy. Her art is powerful and spontaneous and founded in her deep knowledge of Yolŋu Law. Her art is not ‘disabled’ art and finds acceptance within the community and the market as an innovative vision based on real understanding of the spiritual forces of her Yolŋu country and worldview.
She is prolific and generous. She paints every day on whatever substrate she can find. She gifts art continuously to any and all people she comes into contact with Indigenous or otherwise. So that a large percentage of homes with North East Arnhem display a Dhambit work. As well as being art that does not mimic others and which presents a fresh perspective in Yolŋu designs, this is art made for a higher purpose.
She has essentially used the art and her parent’s sacred teachings to overcome physical handicaps and limitations. Her capacity to communicate through and around art with allcomers is truly inspiring. She paints without thought or hope of reward and in turn her work has exhibited in several prestigious shows and galleries.
Her show at Salon in Darwin in 2019 was completely sold out before it opened. She has subsequently achieved the same feat with all of the shows exhibited by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney.
