MAGNOLIA MAYMURU

A mother and model, Maminydjama (Magnolia) Maymuru took centrestage last September as Vogue Australia’s cover star alongside her daughter Djarraran, or Tilly. From Yirrkala, 600 kilometres from Darwin, in North-East Arnhem Land’s Gove Peninsula, Maymuru is an AACTA-award winner, taking home the prize for her role in 2018’s The Nightingale, and a former Miss World finalist. Now the Yolngu woman is a model who balances motherhood and being away from family with a career. She is staying connected to her creativity through music – like listening to her father’s band – and bringing other young models with her.

“I’ve already ticked off a career goal by being on the cover of Vogue with my daughter. If somebody told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to be on the cover of Vogue and you’re going to have a baby in the same year,’ I would say, ‘No, are you sure you’re talking about me?’ That is very cool.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Tilly, I thought about it for a whole week before I even told my friends and family, because I was thinking, ‘Is this something I can pull off with my career?’ I called up my grandma and my granddad. I said, ‘What do you think I should do?’ And they said, ‘As long as you are happy, as long as you do what you want to do, we will be here to support you and guide you.’ And that’s when I thought, if I have the right people around me, if I’ve got the love and the support that I need … then I should be fine.

I think one thing I’ve really learned is, whatever happens, to let it be and to always look at the brighter side of things. The more positive you stay, and stay true to yourself, the better everything becomes – the outcome, the experience, everything.

[When travelling away from Country], one thing I do to feel close to home is listen to music. We have so many good artists. We’ve got Dr Yunupingu. We have Baker Boy, Emily Wurramara, Yirrmal, Yothu Yindi, my dad’s band as well, East Journey – so many. If I have that one moment where I’m feeling very homesick, I just play any of those songs. Sometimes I will get emotional, and then other times it makes me feel powerful. I feel very strong, especially with up-and-coming artists like Barkaa and Miiesha. I love Thelma [Plum] as well. So many women who empower us.

Growing up, I didn’t really have many people that looked like me, that I could relate to, but I did have a lot of women who inspired me. There’s Cathy Freeman. I love Samantha Harris – I’ve been wanting to model since I was little, so she was the number-one person I would always look at and think, ‘I want to be like her.’ [Harris appeared in Vogue Australia in 2020, sharing her work as a World Vision ambassador, travelling to the Kimberley to assist with community-led education initiatives, and sat front row at FNFD’s first runway show last year at Australian Fashion Week]

One thing I’ve realised, and I hear it, too, from mothers, from aunties, from grandmas, that their daughters and their nieces look at me now and go, ‘Hey, oh my god, I’m Magnolia,’ or they play dress-up and they want to be like me. They take photos, they pose like me. Apparently, there’s a Magnolia pose that I don’t even know. I need to see what it is so I can do it more, but just to know that I’m that person now really, it tugs on my heart. Every time I hear someone say, ‘My daughter loves you,’ or ‘My niece wants to be like you.’ Even sis here [Cindy], when I first met her, she said, ‘I can’t wait to finally walk with you. I always watch you on YouTube. I’ve learned so much just from watching your interviews.’ And I’m thinking, ‘What?’ When I saw her, I was stunned. I looked at my sister and my partner and I said, ‘Do you see what I’m seeing?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’

“I hear it from mothers, aunties and from grandmas, that their daughters and nieces look at me now and … they want to be like me”