Biography
Jutta Malnic
April 2001
Personal Biography:
1924 Born in Berlin Germany. My childhood was spent in Germany and Switzerland, where my father served as German Consul General in Zurich until his death in 1934, when the family returned to Berlin. We remained in Berlin during WWII. Our house was 32 times on fire, which honed our skills as firefighters.
1943 My subjects of Philosophy, Art, Theatre and Film at Humboldt University Berlin were disbanded for the rest of the war years and I was drafted into the Work Force (Arbeitsdienst). Experienced the night of Allied bombing raids on Dresden
1945-1948 Studied photography for two years at Lette Verein, Berlin. Then served apprenticeship to H.H.Hartmann, a prominent photo-journalist and working for Mauritius Picture Press Agency, in Berlin
1948 Our family migrated to Australia, where my mother had been born.
1951 Married Sergei Malnic, an architectural student, whom I had met in Berlin and who followed us to Australia. As Sergei continued to study at Sydney University, I was under pressure to succeed quickly to make a living for us. We have two children, Nicola and Julian.
1949 I started a 20-year-long association with Orient Line of Australia shipping company (later amalgamated with P&O), contracting as on-board photographer on Sydney-to-Sydney cruises. Those years in the Pacific were an essential preparation for my later work of documenting cultural treasures for future generations of the Kimberley Aboriginal communities and Trobriand Island people.
1970 Served as port lecturer on P&O cruises. Gave Short talks on "Polynesian Navigation", Melanesian Religion", "Migration into the Pacific" (I still blush when remembering how simplistic these explanations were at the time)
1975-1976 Attempted to write a story on Tahitian history and culture, in Papeete, but gave it up. Could not handle being countered by a kahuna (Polynesian shaman woman)
1977-1978 Seven one-day flights to the Antarctic as on-board photographer.
1979-1980 Involvement with the Kimberley Aboriginal culture., the Ngarinyin. Worora and Wunambul, resulted from my exhibition "The Face of Arnhem Land, when Elaine Godden invited me to share authorship in "Rock Paintings of Aboriginal Australia as a photographer
1980-1994 Worked with John Kasaipwalova and Chief Nalubutau on "Kula" documentation. 15 visits to P.N.G.
1989-1990 Worked with film production company Sky Visuals, Sydney, on making documentary "Kula - Ring of Power", being instigator, coordinator, ethnic and script adviser
1993 'Yorro Yorro" book launches in Sydney, Perth, and with Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley.
Traditions or Influences
My antepodically domiciled family, foremost my father and my mother. Then my uncle, Ekke Beinssen, who wrote a book about his gold-panning days in New Guinea. My cousins, one a kiap, another working as a coffee plantation manager in P.N.G. and their younger brother who was twice in charge of an Australian research station in the Antarctic.
Other shared experiences and inspirations came from Nicola, our daughter in England, who has, so far, put seven books on heritage architecture into print; and from Julian, our geologist son, who at present explores mineral deposits in the Bismarck Sea. But the strongest incentive for my longing to travel into the Pacific and be among island people came from outside the family. As a young student I fell in love with the sculpture of a beautiful man. It was the statue of the 18th-19th-century naturalist and explorer Alexander V. Humboldt, the "German Charles Darwin", patron of my university
Professional Biography:
GERMANY:
19??-1943 Humboldt University. Berlin., Philosophy, Art, Theatre, Film
1945-1948 Technical training: 2 years photography at Lette Verein, Berlin. Then apprentice to H.H.Hartmann, a prominent photo-journalist, and working for Mauritius Picture Press Agency, Berlin
AUSTRALIA:
1948 Worked as "regular casual" for Sunday Sun newspaper as photographer for the social pages.
1950 Exhibition of photographs in Sydney.- portraits of young girls, scenes of Sweden, South Africa, Mozambique
1949 Started a 20-year-long association with Orient Lines of Australia (later amalgamated with P&O) contracting as on-board photographer on Sydney-to-Sydney cruises. Those years in the Pacific were an essential preparation for my later work of documenting the cultures of the Kimberley Aboriginal communities and Trobriand Island people.
Exhibitions:
1977 "The Face of Arnhem Land", at Sydney
1978 "Antarctic Flight", at Sydney
1991 "PAPUA New Guinea-The Highlands, Lowlands and Islands", at Commonwealth Bank, Martin Place, Sydney
1986 "Aboriginal Rock Paintings", , at IWALEWA HAUS, University of Bayreuth, Germany; followed by exhibitions at a number of banks in Switzerland
1996 "A Bird at the End of the World" (Laughlan Islands, P.N.G.), & "Rock Paintings of Aboriginal Australia", 1996, at IWALEWA HAUS, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Books:
1967 "Sydney Holiday" (for children 8-14 years), Lansdowne Press, with Elizabeth Cavanough
1977 "Hidden Gardens Sydney, photographs for the Garden Committee of the National Trust of Australia
1982 "Rock Paintings of Aboriginal Australia", Reed, photographs, with Elaine Godden. Republished in 1988, & 1997.
1982 "Shiga the Potter", John Ferguson
1993 '"Yorro Yorro - Spirit of the Kimberley" (Aboriginal culture), with David Mowaljarlai Magabala Books, Broome, & Inner Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont, photographs and text.
1998 "Kula - Myth and Magic in the Trobriand Islands' (P.N.G.). Cowrie Books, Sydney
Achievements and Awards
Documenting independently (self-funded), and in-depth, two great indigenous cultures. Recording with photography, and through the voice of the owners of the culture in the way they wanted their lore kept for future generations. First white woman to join into the ritual of two Trobriand communal Kula exchanges on Kitava Island. Three expeditions around Milne Bay to visit all islands participating in the Kula Ring exchange. Five books published. Raising two children, helping to build a house, and avoiding divorce.