England Bangala
Australian Aboriginal Artist
England Bangala Born: 1925 c. Died: 2.12.2001 Tribe: Gunardba Community Centre: Maningrida, Central Arnhem Land Outstation or Country: Gochan Jiny-jirra (Cadell Gardens) Language: Burarra, Gun-nartpa dialect Local Group (clan): An-nguliny Social Affiliations: Yirricha moiety, Ngarrich
Medium/ Form:
Bark painting, ochres on bark, carving, carved and painted wooden sculpture, hollow log coffin, lithography,
Awards/Grants/Commissions:
1992, Half Fellowship, from the Aboriginal Arts Unit of the Australia Council for the Arts.
Collections:
Artbank, Sydney.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
Central Collection, Australian National University, Canberra.
Christensen Collection, held Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
Djomi Museum, Maningrida.
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Maningrida Collection, Sydney.
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.
Group Exhibitions:/
1974 to 1976, Art of Aboriginal Australia, touring Canada, Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd.
1982, Aboriginal Art at the Top, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
1983, Artists of Arnhem Land, Canberra School of 1986, Painted Objects from Arnhem Land, University Drill Gallery (Pod), Canberra, ACT.
1987, The Fourth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1987, Esplanade Gallery, Darwin.
1988, Bulawirri / Bugaja a special place, NGV, Melbourne
1988, Gochan Jiny-jirra artists, MOCA, Brisbane.
1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne; Design Warehouse Sydney [through Lauraine Diggins Fine Art]
1989, Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
1990, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
1990, Balance 1990: views, visions, influences, travelling 1990, Spirit in Land, Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria.
1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from Arnhemland, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
1992, The Ninth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
1992/3, New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring USA and Australia.
1993, Ten years of acquisitions,from ANU collection, Drill Hall Gallery ACT.
1993, Australian Heritage Commission National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House,Canberra.
1993/4, ARATJARA, Art of the First Australians, Touring: Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; Hayward Gallery, London; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark.
1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria.
1994, Maningrida Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Selected Biography:
Butler, R., 1986, 'From dreamtime to machine time,' Imprint (3-4), 10. (C)
Caruana, W. (ed.), 1989, Windows on the Dreaming, Ellsyd Press, Sydney. (C)
Caruana, W., 1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London. (C)
Diggins, L. (ed.), 1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, exhib. cat., Malakoff Fine Art Press, North Caulfield, Victoria.
1993, Aratjara, Art of the First Australians: Traditional and Contemporary Works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists, exhib. cat. conceived and designed by Bernard Luthi in collaboration with Gary Lee), Dumont, Buchverlag, Koln. (C)
McCulloch, A., & McCulloch, S., 1994, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, St Leonards, New South Wales.
O'Ferrall, M., 1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from Arnhemland in the Collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. (C)
Ryan, J., 1990, Spirit in Land, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
1974, Art of Aboriginal Australia, exhib. cat., Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Limited. (C)
� Discovery Media, Documentation Pty Ltd, and the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Notes:
This artist was born around 1926 and raised at an isolated outstation of Maningrida called Gochan Jiny-jirra on the Cadell River in Central Arnhem Land.
He attended Milingimbi Methodist Mission school spasmodically when he was young, and later worked as a farmer and carpenter at his lonely outstation, sometimes he went to Oenpelli to earn money as a buffalo shooter. Eventually Bangala married his promised girl wife and fathered 4 boys and 3 girls.
England is a fully initiated elder of his tribe and a foremost recorder on bark and on Arches Rives paper of the history and religion of his ancestors. He is always at the forefront of tribalceremonies because of his wisdom and knowledge. He was taught to paint by his father, also a famous bark painter, but none of his sons have gone through their age-grading ceremonies and therefore have not been allowed to paint, so that his unusual style will dieout with him.
The art of Bangala is hanging in major art galleries and museums and is featured in authentic art books. He has exhibited in most Australian states, and has also travelled with dance groups as a talented performer singing and dancing in the traditional tribal way.