Sullivan+Strumpf is proud to present Miḻŋthun ŋayi yukurra ŋilimurruŋgala (They are shining on us), an exhibition of new works by acclaimed Yolŋu artist Naminapu Maymuru-White, opening at their Naarm/Melbourne gallery Thursday July 23 – Saturday August 22, 2026.

For Maymuru-White, Milŋiyawuy (the Milky Way) is both a celestial and spiritual realm: a place where ancestors gather, where spirits travel, and where family remain present.

Across 18 bark paintings and 11 significant larrakitj, the artist renders luminous constellations and rhythmic fields of mark-making that evoke the movement between the earthly and spiritual worlds.

This significant body of new work also features a major polyptych work comprised of an additional 18 bark paintings, spanning more than three meters, continuing her work mapping Yolŋu understandings of kinship and memory.

Drawing from Maŋgalili cosmology and ancestral knowledge, Naminapu Maymuru-White’s latest exhibition centers on a story passed down through generations about two fishermen who journeyed far out to sea hunting turtle.

Caught in a violent storm, their canoe sank and all that remained floated on the surface of the water. In the depths below, they encountered Baṉdumul, a sacred living driftwood and ancestral being belonging to both the Maŋgalili and Waŋgurri clans. Though offered help several times by ancestral spirits, the fishermen refused, knowing where they were destined to go. Their spirits travelled through the Milky Way to join their ancestors.