Wanapati Yunupiŋu
Birany Birany, NT
In Ancestral times, the leaders of Yirritja moiety clans used fire for the first time during a ceremony at ?alarrwuy in Gumatj Country. This came about as fire brought to the Madarrpa, by B�ru the Ancestral crocodile, spread north and swept through the ceremonial ground.
About the Artist
Wanapati Yunupi?u was born in 1989 and has grown up between Birany, Wandawuy and Yirrkala with rich ceremonial instruction. The son of senior artist and ceremonial leader Miniyawany Yunupi?u (1947�2008) of the Gumatj clan, Wanapati inherited ceremonial clan designs following his father�s passing. He began to paint these on bark and larrakitj poles and more recently has begun engraving onto discarded street signs and sheets of metal. He is one of several Yol?u artists experimenting with new materials found on Country.
In 2021, Wanapati was included in the ground-breaking and sell-out exhibition Murr?iny � a story of metal from the east at the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art in partnership with Salon Art Projects. In early 2022, he was awarded the Melbourne Art Fair First Nations Commission with the commissioned piece gifted to Shepparton Art Museum (SAM). Wanapati�s works are highly revered and held in significant institutions and private collections both within Australia and internationally.
