Crusoe Kuningbal or Guningbal (1922–1984) was an Aboriginal Australian artist from Maningrida in the Northern Territory, known for a pointillist technique and tall, slim sculptures of mimih spirits.
[1] In addition to his art, Kuningbal was a prominent cultural figure in his region, as he sang and performed in important ceremonies, most notably that of the Mamurrng.
[2] Crusoe Kuningbal was born in the middle Liverpool River region in the Northern Territory of Australia as part of the Kuninjku language group.
[3] After the war, he returned to Maningrida and began to make bark paintings to sell at the local trading post.
Later, Kuningbal relocated to Barrihdjowkkeng, a small outstation where he lived with his wife Lena Kuriniya and sons Crusoe Kurddal, Owen Yalandja, and Timothy Wulandjbirr, all of whom were artists.
[9] Red and white ochre is used to paint the bodies of participants and special outfits of cloth and headbands are dawned.
[11] This ceremony was performed in public spaces in Maningrida where community members and outsiders noticed Kuningbal's sculptures and a market demand for them resulted.
[10] His earliest sculptures of mimih were smaller and less detailed than the later and more notable pieces; they were no taller than 1m, and the arms were depicted with grooves.
Dots in other natural pigment colours are then painted in flowing lines on the figure down the face, the arms, most plentifully on the torso, and partially down the legs.
[3] Kuningbal went on to produce his mimih spirit sculptures for sale at the Maningrida Art Center in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Kuningbal's sons innovated on the mimih sculptures even more so by making them bigger, more detailed, and with smaller and more plentiful dots.
[3] There are dozens of people in Maningrida who took up carving mimih sculptures after Kuningbal passed, including some women who are historically excluded from art practices in the region.
[3] His work is included in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) Collection at the National Museum Australia.
This collection holds 2,050 works spanning a 38 year period following a 1967 referendum that dramatically changed the governance in regards to Aboriginal Australians.
[13] The ATSIAA collection stands as a visual history of the diversity and development that took place in Aboriginal Art during this shift in governance.