Mor Mor – Mutthi Mutthi Lady

Mor Mor Maureen Reyland, a daughter of Alice Ellen Pearce Kelly who was born beneath a tree and wrapped in bark in 1919, on the banks of Murrumbidgee river in Balranald, South Western NSW, on Mutthi Mutthi country in the Willandra Lakes Region.  This region takes up much of Mungo National Park, the traditional meeting place of the Mutthi Mutthi, Ngiyampaa and Barkinji Aboriginal tribes .  This is also where Mor Mor, now an Aboriginal elder and custodian, was born.

Being a direct descendant from Mungo, known as the oldest ceremonial burial site of human beings now known as Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, Mor Mor is a former member of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage committee and the Three Tribes Aboriginal advisory group and was involved in the repatriation of ancestral remains including Lady and Man Mungo to their individual resting places.

Mor Mor reported that the highlight of her artistic career and proudest moment as an Aboriginal woman, was when she was commissioned by Regional Arts Victoria to produce a handmade possum skin cloak to be worn in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006.  It took 28 Ring-tail Possum skins to make, almost 3 months to complete and now resides in the National Museum, Sydney.

Her First Solo Exhibition held at TAP Gallery on 18th to 14th January 2016 was the MUNGO COLLECTION of 31 spiritual drawings and stories.  These spiritual paintings and stories are the link between MOR MOR and the Mungo Lady, her 30,000 year old ancestor, and show her affiliation with Mother Earth, her ancestors and sacred tribal land that has been theirs since its creation. The circles represent the sands of Mungo and the snakes represent creation. 

Her next Exhibition in 2017 was Mor Mor Mutthi Mutthi Celebrating Mango Man’s Return to Country which she had fought so hard to achieve. She also had a one night showing on 28th January 2017. Then in 2019 she exhibited 24th June to 6 July showing Dreaming Colours of Mungo.

In 2023 on 1st – 15th May, Mor Mor exhibited her MOR MOR’S DREAMING show consisting of many of her spiritual and dot dreaming paintings.