Dr B Marika AO

Dr B Marika AO (1954–2021), printmaker, Yolngu leader and arts administrator, was a member of the renowned Marika family of artists and activists. She grew up in Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land and was taught painting by her father, Mawalan (1908–1967), an artist and statesman who in 1963 helped initiate Australia's first Aboriginal land rights case. She was among the first women to paint ancestral creation stories – a practice traditionally observed only by men. Moving to Sydney in 1980, she studied at the National Art School, also working as a translator and in film and television and later completing residencies at the Canberra School of Art and Flinders University in South Australia. Returning to Yirrkala in 1988, she became manager of the Buku-Larrnggay Arts Centre while continuing work as an artist and educator. She received the Australia Council's Red Ochre Award in 2002, and in 2005 won the Best Bark Prize at the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Dr Marika served on boards for organisations including the Australia Council, the National Gallery of Australia and Bangarra Dance Theatre; and for more than two decades she was involved in education, conservation and advocacy work as a member of bodies such as the Northern Land Council and Landcare. In 1992, she established the Mawalan 1 Gamarrwa Nuwul Association for the management of Rirratjingu lands and was later involved in securing heritage protection for Yalangbara, a site of great cultural significance. Dr Marika was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019, and she was the Northern Territory Australian of the Year for 2020.

Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.