Yolŋu artist and storyteller Molly Hunt has made her international debut at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden, with her work DARRPA – KING BROWN featured in the museum’s new global exhibition, Existens, which opened last month.
The exhibition explores life’s biggest questions through art, culture, ceremony and knowledge systems - drawing together practices that have existed for millennia as well as more modern ones.
Hunt, whose Yolŋu name is Djadulawuy of the Galpu clan, is featured in the exhibition’s Dreams and Power section, which highlights The Dreaming as the grounding of existence.
“The Dreaming tells us how the world was created and how everything is connected - who you are, your ties to people, to nature, and to all living things,” Hunt says.
Her comic-style artwork shares the ancestral story of Darrpa, the King Brown Snake.
In Yolŋu culture, Darrpa is a powerful and layered figure - one connected deeply to identity, kinship and Country.
“My Yolŋu name means ‘spinifex grass’ - the grass that shelters and homes the King Brown.
“Through this piece, I honour the enduring connection between ancestral beings, Country and my people, celebrating Yolŋu cultural identity and knowledge."
The artwork was developed over months of research and consultation with her father, artist and cultural custodian Derek (Lika) Hunt.
“This Dreaming story is incredibly complex and reaches far beyond my full understanding,” she says.
“Dad and I approached it with care - grounding the work in respect and cultural truth.”
Hunt chose to focus on one thread of the narrative: Darrpa travelling across the shoreline toward Oyster Rock to clean its sharp fangs.
She says the creative process brought on moments of deep emotional and spiritual intensity.
“As I was drawing, I could feel the story’s weight and presence. It felt like I was touching something far older than myself.
"At times, it felt as if the story wasn’t just being made by me - but moving through me. That feeling is still with me.”
Hunt will travel to Gothenburg later this month to see her work installed and hopes to document the visit for community back home.
“This is my first international exhibition and I’m honestly a little emotional about it,” she says.
“So honoured to share space with so many powerful stories. Aunty going international now.”
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