Yolngu power

Explore the strength, energy and power of Yolngu art in this landmark book featuring over 200 innovative works dating from the 1940s to today.

Yolngu power: the art of Yirrkala offers a comprehensive insight into a group of world-recognised and celebrated artists from Yirrkala and the development of an art movement whose contribution to Australian art - and, increasingly, international art - is profound.

The art of Yirrkala is inextricably intertwined with its cultural, political and social history. For almost 100 years, artists from this small community in Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, have shared art as a means of cultural diplomacy - as a respectful assertion of power in its diverse forms, from influence to authority, sovereignty, strength, energy and pride.

Published in association with a major survey at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Yolngu power features over 200 works from the 1940s to the present day. It considers the significant moments in Yirrkala's history when artists have consciously altered their practice, developed new styles or embraced new mediums. It also contextualises the work of individual artists within the broader school of artists from Yirrkala, and surrounding Miwatj Country.

Essays by Cara Pinchbeck, Djambawa Mariwili and Kade McDonald, and Will Stubbs offer a range of perspectives on the art of Yirrkala, from the use of art as activism to the role of cultural inheritance and the development of the art movement that has emerged from this significant community.