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Bush Food
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Merlemerle
Butterfly
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Merlemerle
Butterfly
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Kunred Kunkurra (Helen Kaminski)
The artist, Janet Marawarr calls this design Kunred Kunkurra in her language, Kuninjku. Kunred means country, kunkurra refers the spiralling wind associated with the mini cyclones that occur around several sites in the Kardbam clan during the build up to the wet season. Marawarr often shares different versions of Kunkurra in her Lino print and Screen Print designs, the story or djang (dreaming) can be heard across the Kardbam clan groups Eastern Kunwinjku and Kuninjku people of the Yirridja moiety. This particular artwork describes the underground lightening that occurs during Kunkurra, in the build up to a storm in Mankorlod, Marawarr’s clan estate in West Arnhem Land.
‘The round shapes in the design mean flashing lightening. The lines beside those shapes are foot tracks, human foot tracks. When the rain falls it makes mud and underground lightening. When the sky is really red and black, we see the build up to a storm and we call that Kakodjngolbalabalahmen. That means that the clouds are forming. So that’s the one you see in this artwork. You can also see the leaves on top of the mud when the rain stops.’ Janet Marawarr 2023
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Wandjina & Dumbi (cloud and rain spirits & barn owls)
The Wandjina is the creator spirit that belongs to us: the Wororra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbul people. He is the one that created everything; our culture, law and songs and even the dreaming of each child before they are born.The Dumbis belong to the Wandjina and no-one cannot make fun or kill them, because the Wandjina will send a big rain just like in the flood story.
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Rimmijbudda (cloud and rain spirit)
Rimijbudda is a powerful Wandjina from the Wanumbul country. Gordon Barunga says: “He’s from my mother’s side – Wanumbul, Hunter River, on the sea side from Kalumburu. He’s a thief, steals shells and any sorts of things. Rimij means ‘robs’.” Rimijbudda’s exploits as a thief are part of his identity: he used to take from the other Wandjinas when they were hunting or fishing. He would then run away with their wives. Jugalimurra (another Wanumbul Wandjina) works for Rimijmurra by the sea. As in nearly all depictions of Wandjinas, Jagulimarra and Rimijmurra lack mouths. Pudja (Gordon’s mother) explains that when the Wandjinas send rain, they make the sound of thunder through their nostrils, but they lack mouths so that it won’t rain too hard.
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Ungud (Snake)
The Ungud Snake story is about two young boys who didn’t listen to their elders or believe in them. There is a big waterhole an in it lies a large Ungud Snake. The old people told the kids not to go near that waterhole, but these boys thought the elders were tricking them so they wanted to find out for themselves. So they went to the waterhole and built a hideout from branches with small holes so that they can see ( just in case the elders told the truth) they looked at the billabong and it was calm. They banged two sticks together to make clapping noise and then they saw all the lilypads starting to move apart on the water and large logs came up from out of the water, then came bubbles and after a huge head coming out of the water to have a look around for who had been making all the noise. He hadn’t seen annone so he went back down and the lilypads went flat and the water went calm. Those two boys ran back to the camp and told the elders that they were right , there was a snake and the elders told them that they should have listened in the first place. The Ungud Snake also was the chosen animal in helping with the creation of mother earth, creating rivers, gorges, stream’s and helped with the formation of the earth. Still today it lives in these dark deep water hole’s in our country which doesn’t want to be disturbed.
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Jaiya (fish)
Wandjina is the creator for all the food on the land and in the sea.He’s the one who give us fish (Jaiya).