Artist & Director

Margaret Balayu was born in 1969 and is from the Dhalwangu clan. She has two boys and two girls with her husband and fellow artist, Bruce Wulawula. Margaret is from the Gurrumuru Homeland, near Lake Evella in East Arnhem Land. Her mother’s country is Ramangirr, an outstation of Lake Evella. She grew up in Lake Evella but moved to her grandmother and grandfathers country in Yurrwi (Milingimbi) as a teenager.

Margaret says ‘sometimes I make necklaces or large frames with baḻgurr (kurrajong) and gunga (pandanus). I enjoy collecting baḻgurr, gunga and guninyi (Morinda Citrifolia) from the bush.’  She is always watching and learning from the other weavers. She began working with the art centre in 2017 with the commencement of the large-scale collaborative Koskela weaving project. This has been an opportunity for Margaret to learn about harvesting, processing and weaving bush materials from Yurrwi and nearby islands. Margaret is a keen learner and comes to the art centre daily to work alongside other emerging and senior artists.