Coiling technique was introduced in the 1920s at Goulburn Island to the Maung people by missionaries and quickly spread to the mainland. Many artists produce coiled baskets of varied shapes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets made from dyed pandanus. Artists combine colours and patterns to obtain intricate new graphic patterns.
Name: Jennifer Wurrkidj
Language: Kuninjku
Community: Maningrida
Biography:
Jennifer Wurrkidj was born in 1973 at Maningrida in north-central Arnhem Land. Her language is Kuninjku and her moiety is Duwa.
Jennifer is a highly regarded artist who works across multiple mediums. her works often feature bush foods and food-collecting and also reference the activities of ancestor beings and the ceremonial sites of her homeland, Mumeka.
Jennifer is a daughter of Australia's most highly acclaimed bark painter, John Mawurndjul, and she is renowned, in her own right, for her bark paintings, hollow logs and carved sculptures. Jennifer's artwork has been exhibited throughout Australia and her textile art is in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Yawkyawk Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Read more…
Jinimbu (Spanish mackerel) Bark paintings have a long cultural tradition, believed to extend back many thousands of years. In northern Australia, the walls of bark shelters in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land may well have been painted to Read more…
Jinimbu (Spanish mackerel) Bark paintings have a long cultural tradition, believed to extend back many thousands of years. In northern Australia, the walls of bark shelters in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land may well have been painted to Read more…