Clapsticks are carved from ironwood and are made to accompany the didjeridu, used for ceremony and dancing. The distinctive sound of the clapsticks can be heard played ceaselessly into the night to honour the funeral rites of Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land. Arnhem Land and the Top End of the Northern Territory is the traditional home of the didjeridu, the only wind instrument of the Aborigines.
Name: Thomas Baru
Language: Burarra (Martay), Yan-nhangu
Community: Maningrida
Biography:
Thomas Baru is a young emerging artist from the Warrawarra clan. this clan consist of many strong Burarra-Martay speaking artists such as Clancy Baru and Marcus Pascoe.
His paintings relate to the country called Gamurra Gu-yurra which lies between Maningrida and Ramingining in central Arnhem Land. Common totemic features depicted by this clan are Warraburnburn (a Wangarra or Ghost spirit), Gorraporda (darter), Marrchila/Baru (the saltwater crocodile) and ngokngok (Southern Boobook owl)
Nguykal (Golden Trevally) This is a depiction of Nguykal, the Golden Trevally [Gnathanodon speciosus]. In the early times of creation, Nguykal, the Trevally ancestor, travelled as two fish from the east along the coast. As Read more…
Wak Wak This painting depicts a sacred site at ‘Kurrurldul’, an outstation south of Maningrida. The ‘rarrk’, or abstract crosshatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called ‘Djimarr’. Today this Read more…
Kunkurra (The Spiralling Wind) ‘Kunkurra’, the spiralling wind is associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan estate. On one level, this painting can be interpreted as a depiction of the kinds of mini-cyclones common Read more…