Aboriginal Memorial

The Aboriginal Memorial
Artist	Artists of Ramingining, central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
Year	1987 (1987)
Type	Sculpture installation: natural pigments on wood
Location	National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

The Aboriginal Memorial is a work of contemporary Indigenous Australian art from the late 1980s, and comprises 200 decorated hollow log coffins (also known as memorial poles, dupun, ḻarrakitj and other terms). It was conceived by Djon (John) Mundine in 1987–88 and realised by 43 artists from Ramingining and neighbouring communities of Central Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Artists who participated in its creation included David Malangi and George Milpurrurru.

The work was created to coincide with the Australian Bicentenary and commemorates those Indigenous Australians who died as a result of European settlement. It was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, where it is on permanent display. Its first exhibition was at the Sydney Biennale in 1988, and it was the centrepiece of an exhibition of Indigenous art at Russia's Hermitage Museum in 2000.