Dhuwa Morning Star Pole (Salt Water), 2014

230 x 5 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $2,000

Provenance: Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director) Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: During his lifetime, Gali was the pre-eminent custodian of the Morning Star ceremonial tradition, one of the most important ceremonial practices of the Yolngu world. This finely worked Morning Star Pole, distinguished by its restrained palette of natural ochres, carefully bound feather tufts, and kurrajong bark string, embodies the Dhuwa moiety’s saltwater identity. The Morning Star Ceremony, associated with Venus, is central to Yolngu cosmology, linking themes of life, death, and ancestral continuity. Gurruwiwi’s authority as the hereditary keeper of this knowledge brought him international recognition, with his Morning Star Poles collected by major institutional collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Australia and the British Museum. This pole, created in 2014, exemplifies his ability to balance ceremonial integrity with aesthetic refinement, carrying forward an ancestral legacy with contemporary resonance.

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Sale 2 · Lot 34

Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi

1942 – 2020

230 x 5 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $2,000

Provenance: Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director) Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: During his lifetime, Gali was the pre-eminent custodian of the Morning Star ceremonial tradition, one of the most important ceremonial practices of the Yolngu world. This finely worked Morning Star Pole, distinguished by its restrained palette of natural ochres, carefully bound feather tufts, and kurrajong bark string, embodies the Dhuwa moiety’s saltwater identity. The Morning Star Ceremony, associated with Venus, is central to Yolngu cosmology, linking themes of life, death, and ancestral continuity. Gurruwiwi’s authority as the hereditary keeper of this knowledge brought him international recognition, with his Morning Star Poles collected by major institutional collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Australia and the British Museum. This pole, created in 2014, exemplifies his ability to balance ceremonial integrity with aesthetic refinement, carrying forward an ancestral legacy with contemporary resonance.