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BOORNOOLOOLOO (PURNULULU) – PATRICK MUNG MUNG

‘That one Boornoolooloo (Purnululu) – Bungle Bungle Country,’ Patrick Mung Mung says.



Through his late father, senior Gija leader and esteemed cross-cultural communicator George Mung Mung, Patrick is a traditional owner of the world heritage listed Boornoolooloo (Purnululu). Of this work Patrick says, ‘That’s all that sandy hill country with green grasses and the old people used to live there in the old days like a village,’



Patrick was born at Spring Creek and grew up on Texas Downs Station, where he worked as a proud stockman before becoming an artist. He mustered all over this Country and South into Boornoolooloo where he often went during holiday time with his family. Patrick was among the last Aboriginal stockman to leave Texas in the 1970’s after the introduction of equal wages.

Categories: WARMUN ART

Name: PATRICK MUNG MUNG


Language: Gija, Kimberley Kriol


Community: Warmun


Biography:

Patrick Mung Mung is a senior artist at Warmun Art Centre and an elder at Warmun Community in the East Kimberley. Painting with natural earth pigments on canvas is a significant aspect of his art practice. His knowledge of his country and his cultural memory of family, land and work are powerfully linked in his work. Like his late father, George Mung Mung, Patrick is a strong crosscultural communicator. Patrick's work is influenced by the previous generation of Warmun artists, which include Rover Thomas and Paddy Jaminji - in its raw directness and composition. Patrick was born at Spring Creek and worked as a stockman for many years on Texas Downs Station and nearby stations in the East Kimberley. He was the last worker to leave Texas Downs when it closed down in the 1970s. In 1991 following his father's death, it fell to Patrick to accompany his father’s carving 'Mary of Warmun' to Canberra for the exhibition 'Aboriginal Art and Spirituality' at the High Court of Australia. This occasion marked the beginning of a journey for Patrick, which was to see him take on his father’s role of senior artist, law and culture man. Patrick Mung Mung started painting in 1991, and was instrumental in establishing the artist-and-community-owned art centre at Warmun in 1998. Since that time, Patrick has led Gija performances of the Gurirr Gurirr around Australia and in Paris and Canada.


© the artist / art centre