Coming all the way from Yirrkala, a small town on the northeast tip of Arnhem Land, about 700 kilometers east of Darwin, Australia, Ronald Nawurapu Wunungmurra’s visit to Indonesia was a noble gesture.

Every July, Australia celebrates the National Aboriginies and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week. Nawurapu’s stopover in Indonesia was part of the celebration. This year’s theme was “We All Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate”. It highlights the strong spiritual and cultural connection the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people have to the land and the sea.

“I’m very excited to come on this trip, it’s really interesting for me to meet people,” Nawurapu told The Jakarta Post as translated by Will Stubbs, art coordinator for the Yirrkala Arts Center.

“I feel it’s important because it seems that people on both sides have forgotten a long relationship that binds us together, the Yolngu people [of the Yirrkala] and Makassan,” added the Aboriginal artist after leading an art workshop at the Arts and Ceramics Museum in Kota Tua, Jakarta, in early July.

By Makassan, Nawurapu means Makassar in South Sulawesi, whose people are known as excellent seafarers.

A couple of days later, Nawurapu attended a presentation of Yirrkala Aboriginal Pekalongan batik at the Textile Museum in Jakarta. The Yirrkala batik project is a partnership between the Yirrkala Arts Center in North East Arnhem Land and a traditional batik making business in Pekalongan, Central Java.

Yirrkala provided an image of a bark painting that was created by Nawurapu, who has ancestral links to Makassar. The painting shows the connection between Makassar and the Yolngu people.

The batik’s triangular design symbolizes the “departing red sails” of Makassan traders hundreds of years ago.

Earthly materials: Rocks that are used for natural colors in painting by Ronald Nawurapu Wunungmurra are shown during a workshop session at the Arts and Ceramics Museum in West Jakarta.

On the batik design, Nawurapu said that the imagery referenced the setting of the sun and the red sails of his Makassan family members as they left at end of their visit to Yirrkala.

“It shows the sun on the clouds, in those triangular shapes, which resemble our dreaming about the Makassan,” said Nawurapu, who was accompanied by his artist son, Jamie, during the trip.

Nawurapu confessed that the departure of the Makassan traders made him sad as it meant that they were separated as a family. The sails that go off to the sunset mean that Nawurapu won’t see them again for another season.

“This is why we cry when we think of the Makassan people leaving. Yet, we know that they’ll come again. This is the other side of that story. Here we are now bringing that text back to you,” he added.

After some events in Jakarta, Nawurapu was scheduled to go to Makassar to lead a discussion on “Arts and the Indigenous Person”.

On going to the South Sulawesi provincial capital, Nawurapu said that he was excited and that he hoped that he and the local people would enjoy the gathering.

Stubbs explained that most of Nawurapu’s paintings on the Makassan people portrayed string instruments, cards, knives, textiles, alcohol, cigarettes, money and flags, which were the goods that the Makassan traders brought to them.

For Nawurapu, who has been painting for more than 50 years, painting is a sacred thing.

“I’ve been doing it since I was in school, during that time my father taught me and I started painting right up to when he died and he passed it on to me. Now, I’m passing it too, to my son, Jamie. Paintings are very good for us because they tell stories. Some from the young generation may not know about us, but they can learn [through our paintings],” he said.

On the job: Ronald Nawurapu Wunungmurra works on a painting at the Arts and Ceramics Museum in West Jakarta.

Stubbs explained that for the Yolngu people, paintings are not just made on bark or poles. They also do sculptures and body paintings.

In addition to the ambitious project of reconnecting family members regardless of their current location, Stubbs said that his organization, which has been doing the work for the community and non-profit artist collective in Yirrkala since 1975, would remain open to any opportunities to extend their reach and deepen relationships. For example, Stubbs mentioned the mystery of the pottery goods found on the beaches of Arnhem Land and the desire of his organization to connect with those engaged in this art form.

 â€œIt’s a physical reminder of the visit of Makassan people,” Stubbs said. “We’d be interested to find people who can explain to us where does this pottery come from and we’d be interested to make that pottery in traditional way.”

He further said that he would like to visit those people and ask them to teach and make some pottery goods with the Yolngu people, with the possibility of Nawurapu designing some of the goods. “We’d be renewing a tradition that is maybe 500-600 or even 1,100 years old.”

In the whole of Arnhem Land, there are about 10,000 to 20,000 Aboriginal people. As for Nawurapu, Stubbs said that he has at least 2,500 extended family members in the area.

For Stubbs, the idea of reconnection is meant to show that Australians and Indonesians have been friends long before the two nations existed. “That’s a human story that we all can appreciate,” he added.

Coming all the way from Yirrkala, a small town on the northeast tip of Arnhem Land, about 700 kilometers east of Darwin, Australia, Ronald Nawurapu Wunungmurra'€™s visit to Indonesia was a noble gesture.

Every July, Australia celebrates the National Aboriginies and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week. Nawurapu'€™s stopover in Indonesia was part of the celebration. This year'€™s theme was '€œWe All Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate'€. It highlights the strong spiritual and cultural connection the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people have to the land and the sea.

'€œI'€™m very excited to come on this trip, it'€™s really interesting for me to meet people,'€ Nawurapu told The Jakarta Post as translated by Will Stubbs, art coordinator for the Yirrkala Arts Center.

'€œI feel it'€™s important because it seems that people on both sides have forgotten a long relationship that binds us together, the Yolngu people [of the Yirrkala] and Makassan,'€ added the Aboriginal artist after leading an art workshop at the Arts and Ceramics Museum in Kota Tua, Jakarta, in early July.

By Makassan, Nawurapu means Makassar in South Sulawesi, whose people are known as excellent seafarers.

A couple of days later, Nawurapu attended a presentation of Yirrkala Aboriginal Pekalongan batik at the Textile Museum in Jakarta. The Yirrkala batik project is a partnership between the Yirrkala Arts Center in North East Arnhem Land and a traditional batik making business in Pekalongan, Central Java.

Yirrkala provided an image of a bark painting that was created by Nawurapu, who has ancestral links to Makassar. The painting shows the connection between Makassar and the Yolngu people.

The batik'€™s triangular design symbolizes the '€œdeparting red sails'€ of Makassan traders hundreds of years ago.

On the batik design, Nawurapu said that the imagery referenced the setting of the sun and the red sails of his Makassan family members as they left at end of their visit to Yirrkala.

'€œIt shows the sun on the clouds, in those triangular shapes, which resemble our dreaming about the Makassan,'€ said Nawurapu, who was accompanied by his artist son, Jamie, during the trip.

Nawurapu confessed that the departure of the Makassan traders made him sad as it meant that they were separated as a family. The sails that go off to the sunset mean that Nawurapu won'€™t see them again for another season.

'€œThis is why we cry when we think of the Makassan people leaving. Yet, we know that they'€™ll come again. This is the other side of that story. Here we are now bringing that text back to you,'€ he added.

After some events in Jakarta, Nawurapu was scheduled to go to Makassar to lead a discussion on '€œArts and the Indigenous Person'€.

On going to the South Sulawesi provincial capital, Nawurapu said that he was excited and that he hoped that he and the local people would enjoy the gathering.

Stubbs explained that most of Nawurapu'€™s paintings on the Makassan people portrayed string instruments, cards, knives, textiles, alcohol, cigarettes, money and flags, which were the goods that the Makassan traders brought to them.

For Nawurapu, who has been painting for more than 50 years, painting is a sacred thing.

'€œI'€™ve been doing it since I was in school, during that time my father taught me and I started painting right up to when he died and he passed it on to me. Now, I'€™m passing it too, to my son, Jamie. Paintings are very good for us because they tell stories. Some from the young generation may not know about us, but they can learn [through our paintings],'€ he said.

Stubbs explained that for the Yolngu people, paintings are not just made on bark or poles. They also do sculptures and body paintings.

In addition to the ambitious project of reconnecting family members regardless of their current location, Stubbs said that his organization, which has been doing the work for the community and non-profit artist collective in Yirrkala since 1975, would remain open to any opportunities to extend their reach and deepen relationships. For example, Stubbs mentioned the mystery of the pottery goods found on the beaches of Arnhem Land and the desire of his organization to connect with those engaged in this art form.

 '€œIt'€™s a physical reminder of the visit of Makassan people,'€ Stubbs said. '€œWe'€™d be interested to find people who can explain to us where does this pottery come from and we'€™d be interested to make that pottery in traditional way.'€

He further said that he would like to visit those people and ask them to teach and make some pottery goods with the Yolngu people, with the possibility of Nawurapu designing some of the goods. '€œWe'€™d be renewing a tradition that is maybe 500-600 or even 1,100 years old.'€

In the whole of Arnhem Land, there are about 10,000 to 20,000 Aboriginal people. As for Nawurapu, Stubbs said that he has at least 2,500 extended family members in the area.

For Stubbs, the idea of reconnection is meant to show that Australians and Indonesians have been friends long before the two nations existed. '€œThat'€™s a human story that we all can appreciate,'€ he added.

'€” Photos by JP/Niken Prathivi

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