July 2022

Wayuk – (Waterlily)

‘I always follow the footpath of my grandmother. I have too many stories of my grandmother. We went to the bush and ate bushtucker like yam, yabbie, barra, catfish and magpie goose. We didn’t come into town often, we were staying at Barrihdjowkkeng outstation. I learned how the old people used to live. I always think about my family out there and I keep going. My grandmother asked me to work with her for many years. I watched her making lino and screen printing. That’s why I stay in this job and I’m for the women’s centre’.  Roseanna Bonson 2021

Roseanna’s first design is a 2 colour waterlily design. Wayuk (waterlily) *kuninjki grow in the swamps around Barrihdjowkkeng.

‘The flowers of the waterlily are white and yellow and I like that kind of colour.’ Roseanna Bonson 2021

Bah-je (hunting bag)

Linda Gurawana is a Djinang speaker and she calls hunting bag or dilly bag bah-je.

This design was created in 2007 however Babbarra printers keep experimenting with colours and layers to make it fresh. 

Bah-je (hunting bag)

Linda Gurawana is a Djinang speaker and she calls hunting bag or dilly bag bah-je.

This design was created in 2007 however Babbarra printers keep experimenting with colours and layers to make it fresh. 

Wayuk (waterlily)

‘I always follow the footpath of my grandmother. I have too many stories of my grandmother. We went to the bush and ate bushtucker like yam, yabbie, barra, catfish and magpie goose. We didn’t come into town often, we were staying at Barrihdjowkkeng outstation. I learned how the old people used to live. I always think about my family out there and I keep going. My grandmother asked me to work with her for many years. I watched her making lino and screen printing. That’s why I stay in this job and I’m for the women’s centre’.  Roseanna Bonson 2021

Roseanna’s first design is a 2 colour waterlily design. Wayuk (waterlily) *kuninjki grow in the swamps around Barrihdjowkkeng.

‘The flowers of the waterlily are white and yellow and I like that kind of colour.’ Roseanna Bonson 2021

Kunngol

This design depicts certain Kun-ngol (clouds) that signal to people of central Arnhem Land that the end of the wet season is approaching. After months of daily monsoonal rain in Arnhem Land, these clouds are light and fluffy, not like the dark, heavy clouds of the monsoonal sky. At the time of the kun-ngol clouds, people know the country will soon dry up and the cold season (dry season) will arrive. When the kun-ngol clouds appear, all of the billabongs are already filled, the rivers are high and the country is brimming with life and fresh new growth after months of fresh water pouring from the sky.

Au-gujechiya (fishtrap)

A detailed linocut design portraying a large Au-gujechiya (fishtrap) with an-maka (cowtail stingray), rajarra (barramundi) and other fish inside. 

Elizabeth is from the Burrarra language group and her homeland is Gupanga, Arnhem Land.  

Bah-je (hunting bag)

Linda Gurawana is a Djinang speaker and she calls hunting bag or dilly bag bah-je.

This design was created in 2007 however Babbarra printers keep experimenting with colours and layers to make it fresh. 

Mandjabu – discounted

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.