Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala, the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark paintings to tour the United States, opened on Tuesday.

Presented by Asia Society Museum, Madayin, comprises more than 70 modern and contemporary masterpieces from the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia and other major museums and private collections in the US and Australia.

Conceived, developed and curated by leaders of the Yolngu people, Maḏayin places Indigenous voices at the forefront, reinforcing the important role of Indigenous artists in global contemporary art and curatorial practice.

Energetic and spiritual, the paintings—the oldest dating to 1935, others newly commissioned by Kluge-Ruhe from leading Yolngu Australian artists specifically for this project—feature linear and geometric patterns interspersed with human figures and animals.

Maḏayin is one of the first exhibitions of Aboriginal Australian art in New York City since Asia Society's seminal 1988 exhibition Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia and subsequent exhibition The Native Born: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Ramingining in 2003–2004.

Co-curator of the exhibition and head ranger at Yirralka Rangers, Leader of the Dhalwangu clan, artist and curator, Yinimala Gumana, said the "exhibition is important, because I want to share our message across the world".

"We are bringing Yolngu culture here, connecting to the Indigenous peoples all around the United States. If we put our voices out into the world, and out into the artworld, that should be recognized: individual artists from specific places creating connections, sharing knowledge. But also creating economic opportunities that can flow back to our communities," he said.

For millennia, Yolngu people around Yirrkala in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia have painted their clan designs on their bodies and ceremonial objects. Yolngu describe them as "maḏayin"—a term that encompasses both the sacred and the beautiful. In the early twentieth century, Yolngu turned to the medium of painting on eucalyptus bark, creating shimmering designs using ochre colors with fine brushes made of human hair.

The paintings were created for trade; to preserve and share Yolngu ancestral culture, heritage, and identities; and as acts of diplomacy.

The organic irregularities of the medium give each work a dramatic, sculptural presence, with some standing over 10 feet tall. Recognising Indigenous authority and leadership, Maḏayin suggests a new model for curatorial partnership between Indigenous people and Western museums, amplifying diverse and previously unheard voices in American museums.

Wukun Waṉambi, Yolngu co-curator of Maḏayin and a participating artist in the show, said: "I didn't know what a 'curating' job meant. It was the first time I had heard the word, and the first time it hit my mind, how to do the job of curating. No Yolngu have done that job before, only balanda (non-Yolngu) have done it, but in a different way because they have a different way of understanding."

In recent years, contemporary artists from Yirrkala, such as Nonggirrnga Marawili, Naminapu Maymuru-White, and Gunybi Ganambarr, have been featured in the Venice Biennale, the Sydney Biennale, and the Istanbul Biennale. Their works have been acquired by leading museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Modern, and the National Gallery of Australia.

"The land has everything it needs. But it couldn't speak. It couldn't express itself. Tell its identity. And so, it grew a tongue. That is the Yolngu. That is me. We are the tongue of the land. Grown by the land so it can sing who it is. We exist so we can paint the land," Djambawa Marawili, Yolngu leader and artist, explained.

Sitting alongside the bark paintings, and showing the continuing innovation and vitality of Yolngu artists are two newly-commissioned video installations by acclaimed Yolngu artist and filmmaker Ishmael Marika of The Mulka Project, one of Australia's leading Indigenous media units.

A ceremonial launching of the exhibition by a delegation of Yolngu artists from Yirrkala took place on Monday at the opening reception for Asia Society members.

A series of public events are planned throughout the exhibition—including film, lectures, performances, and family events—exploring Indigenous art in Australia and elsewhere, and the role of Indigenous artists in global contemporary art.

Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala was organised by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia in partnership with the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Australia.

The exhibition has been made possible through the longstanding relationship between Kluge-Ruhe and the Yolngu community at Yirrkala.

Co-Curator of the exhibition and Assistant Professor, Department of Art, University of Virginia, Henry Skerritt said it has been "an extraordinary privilege to work for leaders like Dr. Djambawa Marawili, Mr. W. Wanambi and Yinimala Gumana to see this exhibition culminate in New York City".

"The Yolngu artists and curators have given audiences in the United States an incredible gift by sharing their rich culture and history with the world. They are showing that Australia's First Nations artists are producing the most compelling and important contemporary art in the world," he said.