Wandjuk Marika OBE

Wandjuk Marika OBE (1927–1987), artist and activist, was a Rirrratjingu (Yolgnu) Elder, and a member of the Marika family of artists from the Gove Peninsula, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. His father Mawalan Marika was one of the original bark painters at Yirrkala; his sister is artist Banduk Marika; and his son, Mawalan, is also an artist. Wandjuk began painting on bark as a teenager, taught by his father, and developed a distinctive clan style of representing myth episodes in large bark paintings. He contributed to the painting of the Yirrkala Church panels and the Bark Petition presented to the Australian Government in 1963 to protest against the decision to grant mining leases on the Gove Peninsula. A founding member of the Australia Council, Wandjuk was chair of the Aboriginal Arts Board from 1975 to 1980. An advocate for Indigenous artists' rights, he began a campaign to secure copyright for Aboriginal artists, which led to the formation of the Aboriginal Artists Agency. Recognised as a significant Aboriginal artist in the 1960s and 1970s, Wandjuk's works are represented in national and international collections. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1979 for his services to the arts.