Murungkurr Terry Murray
Mangkaja Arts Resource AgencyWalmajarri man Murungkurr Terry Murray lived on Cherrabun Station in a tin shelter when he was a child. His family had no vehicle so they went hunting on foot. Murungkurr has a strong grounding in bush skills, which he learnt from his parents.
He paints his jaja [grandfather] and japi’s [grandmother’s] country, Wirnpa and Japingka in the southwestern side of the Great Sandy Desert. This area is known as jila [permanent waterhole] country. His mother and brothers lived around there when they were kids.
Murungkurr has strong family connections to a significant group of Mangkaja Arts artists and knows his law and family relationships through his skin group. He explains, “Our culture is an everyday learning thing. I grew up with this. You have to have a strong mind and strong spirit and soul and always listen to your elders”.
PAINTING THEMES:
Jiljis (sanddunes) from the Great Sandy Desert
Jili (permanent waterhole) from the Great Sandy Desert
Family history
POSITIONS HELD:
2020-2021: Mangkaja Arts Director
2009-2011: Mangkaja Arts Director
2009: Board of Australian Aboriginal Art Code of Conduct
2008: Emerging Curator for the Canning Stock Route Project
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
| 2009 | Margaret River Meets Fitzroy Crossing | Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA |
| 2005 | True Colours – Recent works from Fitzroy Crossing | Queensland College of Art Gallery,
Griffth University, QLD |
| 2004 | 22nd Telstra National Aboriginal& Torres Strait Islander Art Award | Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory |
| 2004 | Body of Art | Raft Artspace, Darwin |
| Porta oberta al Dreamtime Painted the doorway with Jukuna Mona Chuguna | Art Aborigen Contemporani d’Australia Caixa de Girona, Girona Spain | |
| 2004 | Ngurrara Canvas | Perth Concert Hall, Perth International Arts Festival, WA |
| 2003 | Jila, Jumu, Jiwari & Wirrkuja | University of Western Australia |
| 2001 | Ngurrara Canvas | National Gallery of Australia, ACT |
| 2001 | Mangkaja Arts Ten Years On – Mangkaja’s 10 Year Anniversary Show | Tandanya, Adelaide, SA |
| 1999 | Ngurrara | Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA |
PUBLICATIONS:
| 2004 | Perth International Arts Festival
Opening Ceremony |
| 2003 | New Yorker Magazine July 28, 2003
The Painted Desert The Fate of an Aboriginal Masterpiece Dance Performances |
| 2003 | Exhibition catalogue:
Cullity Gallery UWA Perth / Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency Martuwarra and Jila [River and Desert] |
| 2002 | Exhibition catalogue
Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art / Marrawarra and Jila entry |
| 1998 | 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Kimberley Land Council
Parliament House Canberra and ANU 2003
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