May 2022

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Mandjabu – Hand Sewn Tablecloth

Kuninjku people traditionally make two sorts of conical fish traps. One is called mandjabu and is made from a strong, durable vine called milil, and a smaller one is called manylik mandjabu, and made from the grass manylik. The mandjabuconical fish trap is bigger and stronger and used in tidal reaches of creeks to catch large fish. The smaller, lighter manyliktrap is used in freshwater flowing creeks to catch smaller fish and freshwater prawns. In earlier times, only men were involved in the construction of the large fish traps, but children would often crawl inside and assist.

To make mandjabu, weavers firstly harvest milil (burney vine, Malaisia scandens) and put it in water overnight to make it soft. Then they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. People also make string from the bark of burdaga (kurrajong) to attach the bardainy (hibiscus) rings and to tie the conical end of the fish trap. It’s hard work and it can take three or four weeks to make a fish trap. People also use fish-net fences called kunkarlewabe. They would put the kunkarlewabe  across rivers and creeks. In the middle they would place the mandjabu. They also used small things like sticks, rocks, mud and grass to block the fish from going through. This way we would catch fish such as saltwater barramundi rajarra, ngaldadmurrng (freshwater barramundi), small black freshwater catfish (buliya), bonefish (an-guwirrpiya), and sand bass (dalakan) in the mandjabu.

 

This small tablecloth was printed by hand and hemmed by Esther Yarllarlla at Babbarra Designs. 

By CompNet Systems, ago

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Bolung

Bolung (Rainbow Serpent) is from the sacred country of Dukala- Djarranj. This is the country of Jay’s grandparent and a place of great significance, as Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent, travelled through the landscape. Rock art in the area depicts a rotund Bolung. 

By CompNet Systems, ago

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Hand Made Bag

Marilyn’s first screen print design depicts the story of lorrkkon (hollow funeral logs). This the story of her great, great grandfather and grandmother who were bark painters, as well as also sacred lorrkkon painters.

When designing this screen print, Marilyn was remembering her childhood living in a small house on Liverpool river Ngar-wunja (Thompson hole) with other families.

Through the painting process, Marilyn remembered and relived the times when people still lived permanently on remote homelands, living off the land before balanda (non-indigenous people) arrived.

Marilyn recalls “it makes me think back, we did lots of things, some people was hunting, some was weaving, some was painting barks and lorrkkon. As my great, great grandfather and grandmother was painters, I painted this my story for them.”

By CompNet Systems, ago

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Kunmadj & Marebu Hand Sewn Tablecloth

Kunmadj is the Kuninjku term for large woven collecting baskets, known as dillybags.

They are often made from the burney vine (Malaisia scandens), a strong, pliable plant that grows along the ground and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The baskets are used to collect a variety of heavy foods, such as fish caught in conical fish traps or a good harvest of yams. As well as being of practical use, dillybags are of cultural significance to Arnhem Land people. Dillybags are totemic objects and they are associated with particular sites in the landscape.

By CompNet Systems, ago