We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala Nyamiyukanji ‘the river country’ 1997, Art Gallery of New South Wales © Estate of Ginger Riley. Courtesy of Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala Nyamiyukanji, the river country 1997, Art Gallery of New South Wales
© Estate of Ginger Riley, courtesy of Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne

Nyamiyukanji, the river country 1997

In Nyamiyukanji, the river country 1997, Ginger Riley Munduwalawala depicts the dramatic rock formations known as the Ruined City that rear up out of the Gulf region landscape. This is Riley’s grandfather’s Country, near the Nathan River. As in many of his works, Riley has painted the rocky outcrops and surrounding land in bands across the painting, while the river winds diagonally up to the sea.

At the top of the painting, the bright blue sky, which is not differentiated from the sea at the mouth of the river, has large wet-season clouds raining on the landscape. In Riley’s work, clouds or the sun usually represent his mother. Ngak Ngak appears in the foreground and, on the right, Garimala travels across the Country. This place exists in Riley’s creation knowledge as much as it does in the landscape.

Riley was influenced by the Central Australian watercolour painter Albert Namatjira, who Riley met briefly in the 1950s when droving around Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Riley went on to emulate Namatjira, not in style, but in the forging of an idiosyncratic vision of his beloved Country.

  • K–6 discussion questions

    • Riley was known by many as the ‘boss of colour’. Look at Nyamiyukanji, the river country and describe the colours you can see. List words that capture the mood. What kind of music would match this painting? Would it be energetic or quiet, happy or sad, loud or soft? 

    • Find the four elements relating to his Country that Riley always included in his painting: Ngak Ngak, the sea eagle; the Limmen Bight River; Garimala, the double snake; and the Four Archers rock formations. 

  • K–6 activities

    • Go on a walk to draw scenes around your school. Get to know this landscape intimately. Make a series of studies of plants, trees, road signs and buildings. Draw them over and over, using different materials. Reflect on how this activity makes you look at these objects in new ways.

    • Imagine you are a bird flying over the country in this painting. Describe the things you would see and how you would feel. Write a poem that communicates this imaginary experience. 

  • 7–12 discussion questions

    • Riley has said: ‘In my mind I sit on a cloud on top of the world – and I want to paint what I look down on. That’s in my mind.’ Consider this quote from the Art Gallery’s 1994 publication Yiribana: An introduction to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection by Margot Neale, and analyse the pictorial perspective in Nyamiyukanji, the river country. Are we looking across the landscape or viewing it from above? Is this a literal depiction of landscape? Assess how this perspective may reflect the artist’s relationship with his Country. Can this painting be seen as a self-portrait? Debate this idea.

  • 7–12 activities

    • Use watercolour to paint a landscape you know well from memory. Hold your knowledge of this place in your mind and depict the geography, landmarks, colours, atmosphere and light. Look at the work of Albert Namatjira, a significant influence on Munduwalawala and his style of layering colours.  

    • Contrast the process in the first activity with painting directly from the landscape. Find a place you love and immerse yourself in the scene before you. Notice the shifting light, colour, depth of field, breeze and temperature, as you record the scene in detail. Compare the two works and evaluate the differing results. Does one method better express your feelings about each place? Explain.