Dolly Loogatha - Makarrki (632-19)
Artist: Dolly Loogatha
Title: Makarrki
Cat No: 632-19
Size: 40.5 x 50.5 cm
Acrylic on Canvas
Story:
"This is a very special place on Bentinck Island. This is where King Alfred was born. He was my father and Sally's big brother. Makarrki is made up of a big river system."
Biography:
Dolly Loogatha
Thunduyingathui Bangaa
Born: circa 1946
Origin: Dulkawalne - Bentinck Island
Language: Kayardild
Biography
"I was only a small child when our people were brought to Mornington Island and forced to live in the mission. I grew up in the dormitory like all the other children. My father King Alfred was killed when I was only a baby so I was really grown up by the missionaries. It was hard, they were cruel to us if we were naughty and would lock us up or cut our hair really short. As I grew into a young woman I went and worked on lots of cattle stations around Cloncurry and ended up moving to Darwin where I had a partner and lived there for 30 years away from Mornington Island and Bentinck Island.
"I only came back in 2008 so that I could be with my family and live back on Bentinck Island. When old May died the other Bentinck artists asked me to come and join their group and paint at the Art Centre. I had done a little bit of painting in Darwin on small canvas boards more for fun than anything else. I really like to go to the Art Centre and paint with old Aunty Sally and my other sisters. We have so much fun. I paint Thundi where I was born and Makarrki where my father was born. It makes me feel good and proud when I see the finished painting."
Group Exhibitions:
2018 Outstation Gallery, Darwin,NT
2019 Salon Gallery : Darwin NT
2019 CIAF-Connection to Country : Cairns Qld
2019 DAAF : Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair
2018 Kick Arts : Cairns, Qld
2018 Tanks Arts Centre : Cairns, Qld
2018 CIAF Indigenous Fashion Performance : Wandan (Future)
2017 CIAF : Cairns Indigenous Art Fair - Curated Exhibition: Family Values
2017 Colours of Queensland : Queensland Regional Art Awards Touring Exhibition
2017 Land of All - Dulka Wangiid : Art Mob, Hobart Tasmania
2016 CIAF : Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Market
2016 Currents: Trends & Movements in Queensland Indigenous ArtCentres Exhibition : Cairns Tanks Gallery
2015 International Women's Day Exhibition: Tanks Art Gallery
2015 Kinship - A Celebration of Fine Arts from Far North Queensland Indigenous Art Centre : Tanks Art Centre, Cairns
2013 Earth Works: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Ceramic Art : Flinders University City Gallery
2012 Artists from Bentinck Island & Mornington Island, Queensland : Alcaston Gallery
2012 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair : Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2012 Korea International Art Fair : Seoul, South Korea
2011 Arsts From Mornington Island Art : Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2011 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair : MI Art & Alcaston Gallery
2011 Bentinck Is Artworks : Cairns Indigenous Art fair
2010 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair : Tanks Art Centre, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2010 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair : MI Art & Alcaston Gallery
Awards:
2016 Finalist, Touring Exhibition: Colours of Queensland, Queensland Regional Art Awards
Collections:
The National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria