David Malangi Daymirringu (1927-1999), Manharrngu, bark painter, printer and designer, was born at Mulanga, near the mouth of the Glyde River, just before Christian missionaries arrived on the nearby island of Milingimbi. For some years he painted only for ritual purposes, but in the 1960s he began painting commercially as well. In 1966 he gained nationwide fame when one of his paintings was reproduced on the new $1 note (without his permission). In 1979 Malangi and fellow Ramingining artists George Milpurrurru and Johnny Bonguwuy became the first Aboriginal artists to show their work at the Biennale of Sydney. His work featured in Australian Perspecta (AGNSW, 1983) and Dreamings in New York in 1988; he travelled to the opening of the latter with Jimmy Wululu. Malangi created ten poles for the Aboriginal Memorial and was one of three Yolgnu people who sang the work into place at the National Gallery in 1988. In 1997 he received an Australia Council Award, and in 1998 an honorary doctorate from ANU. The NGA mounted No Ordinary Place: the art of David Malangi in 2004.
