Wukun Wanambi

Wukun Wanambi (1962 – 4 May 2022) was an Australian Yolngu painter, filmmaker and curator of the Marrakulu clan of northeastern Arnhem Land.

2018 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award Telstra

In 2017, Wanambi traveled to the United States to join the curatorial team for the exhibition Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Art from Yirrkala. This was Wanambi's first time working as a curator. In 2018 he served as curatorial consultant on the exhibition MIwatj at the La Trobe Art Institute. Wanambi believed in incorporating Aboriginal peoples at all levels of art exhibition, and his curatorial work with the Maḏayin exhibition project reflected his desire for Yolngu culture to be depicted the Yolngu way.

2010 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award Telstra

2007 – Togart Contemporary Art Award (NT) - Winner of Peoples Choice

2003 – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards – Highly Commended (3D Work)

When Mithili died in 1981, sacred clan designs could no longer be painted because no one had the authority to paint them anymore. It was not until 1997 that Djunggayi (caretakers and preservers of clan knowledge) taught Wanambi the designs. Wanambi then began painting and created for the Saltwater Country exhibition, re-introducing motifs that had not been painted since his father's death. From this point on, he became a highly renowned artist, dedicated to honouring his father and ancestry through his art.