ABSTRACT
Yolngu art is both an important institution and one that exemplifies features of the structure of Yolngu society and the Yolngu system of knowledge. Creativity is integral to the way in which Yolngu art is used, for its production involves the selection and organization of elements of the mardayin for particular purposes and it is through their use in particular contexts that the mardayin is reproduced. Yolngu art is in a constant state of readjustment to current political realities, and is part of the way those new realities are achieved and accorded recognition. It is also possible to see how changes have occurred which affect the form and meaning of paintings. Yolngu paintings, songs, dances, and sacred names have the capacity to connect the general with the particular: the same component is able to signify meanings at a high level of generality and at a precise level of specificity depending on context.
