David Malangi

David Malangi was born in 1927 at Mulanga, on the east bank of the Glyde River in Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, where he received initiation into Manyarrngu culture during his early years spent in the area.

More specifically, Malangi would paint images of the Djang'kawu sisters, who were accredited with creating the Dhuwa clans, and Gurrmirringu, a male spirit whose death and funeral ritual were popular subjects in his art.

[3] The reproduction of one of his designs, depicting the mortuary feast of the ancestral hunter Gurrmirringu, appeared on the reverse of the Australian one-dollar note in 1966.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank explained that it was assumed by the Australian government that the art belonged to an "anonymous and probably long dead" artist.

[7] It was acknowledged in 1967 with the release of the banknote, and he was later financially compensated after intervention by the Governor of the Reserve Bank, H. C. Coombs, as well as receiving a specially struck medal.

In July 2004 an exhibition opened of David Malangi's work at the National Gallery of Australia called No Ordinary Place.