gutinarra-yunupinu
Homeland: Buymarr
Clan: Gumatj
Moiety: Yirritja
The story of Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu is inspirational, his journey highlights his achievements and contributions in the fields of filmmaking and art, emphasising his resilience and dedication. Born deaf, Gutiŋarra successfully overcame numerous challenges to excel academically and professionally. He is noted for being one of the two students in 2015 to graduate Year 12 at Yirrkala Bilingual School. Following his graduation, Gutiŋarra began his career at The Mulka Project, where he took on the role of Project Officer and filmmaker.
His work as a cameraman has involved documenting cultural ceremonies and events within Yolŋu homelands, contributing to the preservation and celebration of indigenous traditions. In his role as a film editor, Gutiŋarra has produced original films and edited ceremonial footage, showcasing his creative skills and technical proficiency. Gutiŋarra made his directorial debut with Gutiŋarra Djälkiri (Gutiŋarra’s Journey) for the Our Stories documentary series on NITV in 2017, which focused on Yolŋu sign language, his first language. That year, he also produced Yuta Mulkurr (New Minds), a video piece exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia as part of Tarnanthi. His film Maykarran (Lightening Strike) was a finalist in the 2018 Digital Portraiture Awards.
In 2019 his contributions to the arts were further recognised when he received the Telstra NATSIAA Multimedia Award for his 6k film Gurruṯu mi’ mala (My Connections), which explores his connections to his people and land through the Yolŋu kinship system. This work was exhibited at AGSA as part of Tarnanthi 2019 and garnered significant interest. The same year marked his recognition as a finalist for the NT Young Australian of the Year Awards. Gutiŋarra’s artistic journey continued to evolve with the collaborative piece Wata’mi Manikay for the Sydney Biennale NIRIN exhibition at AGNSW in 2020, followed by his recognition as a finalist for the 2020 Telstra NATSIAA Awards for his projection art piece Bäru Minytji.
In 2021, Gutiŋarra expanded his artistic repertoire to include illustration, winning the Ursula Hoff Foundation Acquisitive Award for his work Djälti Gawuṉa in 2022. His film work Maralitja was exhibited at the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony at the NGA Canberra in April 2022. In June 2023, he was commissioned to create a digital artwork for the Institute of Modern Art (IMA Brisbane) titled Fire Tree, which explored the interplay between his culture, clan, land, and Yolŋu sign language through digital art. In October 2023, he produced Buymarr, a contemporary video installation comprised of six illustrations of his homeland, Buymarr, enriched by digital projections of saltwater scenes, seamlessly mapped onto the paper which was exhibited at Praxis Artspace in Adelaide as part of the Goyurrr Exhibition, further cementing his status as an innovative and influential figure in the realm of indigenous art and filmmaking.
