Conclusion

CONCLUSIONWith these inventive works Marralwanga became a central figure in the history of western Arnhem Land bark painting and Australian art.His recognition as an important artist was concomitant with the development of effective arts expertise by Balanda staff at Maningrida and connections into broader support for the arts by the Australian Government and its agencies, which was rapidly growing at the time.The increased focus on painting for the market among artists at Maningrida was intimately linked with the rejection of assimilation policies and practices in the town and the return to Ancestral lands.We have seen that Marralwanga would simply walk away from Maningrida whenever he chose.Like other Kuninjku, and members of other Aboriginal language groups, he acted to remove himself and his family from the paternalistic conditions of town life.He lobbied administrators at Oenpelli and Maningrida to move out of Maningrida and return first to Kumadderr then to Kurrukkurrh, and, in 1973, to Marrkolidjban.At Maningrida, concerted efforts to establish outstations began in the late 1960s, several years before government policies and related infrastructure that supported land rights were enacted (Altman 2016).Through direct communication between the community and key policymakers, such as Nugget Coombs, a new prime minister and his ministers, Maningrida people were involved in shaping the new self-determination regime.Later, the Maningrida Outstation Resource Centre was created with Maningrida Arts and Crafts at its heart.These organisations facilitated a decentralised model of Maningrida life and became go-betweens in productive cultural interactions between Maningrida people and others.