Larrakitj Forest recalls the way in which the Yolŋu people move through the world – through this gathering of Larrakitj ceremonial poles, rendered in scintillating surfaces of black, white, and grey ochres. The Yolŋu are First Nations peoples inhabiting northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolŋu art involves a continuous dialogue between abstraction and representation – a conversation connected to the deep meanings of Yolŋu life and an intimate relationship with the natural world.

Naminapu Maymuru-White‘s (b.1952, Djarrakpi) paintings on the surface of the Larrakitj poles depict the Milky Way as it is experienced by the artist and convey how everything is connected: stars, water, sky, ground, river, kin, the painted Larrakitj, and the artist’s hand. Maymuru-White witnesses the passage of time through the ceaseless transformations of the elements, and the cosmos serve as evidence of all that we have all met and how we live in this present moment.