Anne Nunn is Nyungul woman. Her paintings depict cultural, historic and contemporary stories from her Country, the Helensvale and Shipton’s Flat area in Far North Queensland.
“My painting depicts the plants and animals that live and grow around my bubu (country). I love going out bush and am especially inspired by the wetland dikal (birds) like the kubal (brolga) that live in the walngka (swamp grasses) and kababina (water lilies)”.
Anne Nunn is Nyungul woman. Her paintings depict cultural, historic and contemporary stories from her Country, the Helensvale and Shipton’s Flat area in Far North Queensland.
“My painting depicts the plants and animals that live and grow around my bubu (country). I love going out bush and am especially inspired by the wetland dikal (birds) like the kubal (brolga) that live in the walngka (swamp grasses) and kababina (water lilies)”.
I am painting kunjuri (shield). Our ancestors used kunjuri and wakay (sword) for fighting to protect themselves from getting hurt.
I started watching my grandfather paint when I was 12 years old. He taught me a lot about my culture, and this is why I am interested in kunjuri. My kunjuri are abstracted. When the Missionaries came here to Wujal Wujal; they tried to stop my people from speaking language and practicing our traditions and because of this we lost some of the knowledge. However, the old people were very strong and even though it was very hard they carried our culture despite the Missionaries and kept it strong.
We always look at the plants to know when it’s a good time to hunt or harvest certain foods. We hunt yawu from December to May. We know it’s the right time to hunt the yawu (stingray) because that’s when the wattle is flowering. We look out for its yellow flowers.
Bama (people) love the yawu minya (stingray meat). We hunt the brown saltwater one. When you catch that yawu; you must kill and butcher it the correct traditional cultural way. If you do it the wrong way the big storms will come. You must be very careful.
I am a Jalanji saltwater woman. Jalanji people have lots of stories about the reef. My painting’s story is about Mili (stinging jellyfish) stirring out on the reef.
We were taught at a young age to watch out because these mili sting and can be very dangerous. There are special plants that we can use on mili stings. Our elders passed on this knowledge to us.
I am a Jalanji saltwater woman. Jalanji people have lots of stories about the reef. My painting’s story is about Mili (stinging jellyfish) stirring out on the reef.
We were taught at a young age to watch out because these mili sting and can be very dangerous. There are special plants that we can use on mili stings. Our elders passed on this knowledge to us.
Weaving is a skill that has been practiced by Martu for thousands of years in the making of utilitarian and ceremonial items, such as yakapiri (bark sandals) and manguri (head pads for balancing carved carrying dishes). However, coiled basket weaving as an artform is a relatively newly adopted practice for the Martu, a skill passed on from Central Desert artists in the 1990’s. Leading Martu fibre arts practitioner Nola Taylor says that basket weaving was so popular amongst Martu women that it “spread across the desert like a waru (fire)”.
Each basket is built up through wrapping fine bundles of grass in brightly coloured wool and then stitching each round on to the previous one. The baskets are primarily made from puntayarra and minarri (Amphipogon Caricinus) grass, usually collected incidentally during trips to visit family, attend ceremonies, maintain Country, and hunt and gather bush tucker. Martu artists have developed a distinctive style of basketry and individual artists continue to develop new designs and incorporate novel materials, including steel, wire and wood, into their work.
Weaving is a skill that has been practiced by Martu for thousands of years in the making of utilitarian and ceremonial items, such as yakapiri (bark sandals) and manguri (head pads for balancing carved carrying dishes). However, coiled basket weaving as an artform is a relatively newly adopted practice for the Martu, a skill passed on from Central Desert artists in the 1990’s. Leading Martu fibre arts practitioner Nola Taylor says that basket weaving was so popular amongst Martu women that it “spread across the desert like a waru (fire)”.
Each basket is built up through wrapping fine bundles of grass in brightly coloured wool and then stitching each round on to the previous one. The baskets are primarily made from puntayarra and minarri (Amphipogon Caricinus) grass, usually collected incidentally during trips to visit family, attend ceremonies, maintain Country, and hunt and gather bush tucker. Martu artists have developed a distinctive style of basketry and individual artists continue to develop new designs and incorporate novel materials, including steel, wire and wood, into their work.
Weaving is a skill that has been practiced by Martu for thousands of years in the making of utilitarian and ceremonial items, such as yakapiri (bark sandals) and manguri (head pads for balancing carved carrying dishes). However, coiled basket weaving as an artform is a relatively newly adopted practice for the Martu, a skill passed on from Central Desert artists in the 1990’s. Leading Martu fibre arts practitioner Nola Taylor says that basket weaving was so popular amongst Martu women that it “spread across the desert like a waru (fire)”.
Each basket is built up through wrapping fine bundles of grass in brightly coloured wool and then stitching each round on to the previous one. The baskets are primarily made from puntayarra and minarri (Amphipogon Caricinus) grass, usually collected incidentally during trips to visit family, attend ceremonies, maintain Country, and hunt and gather bush tucker. Martu artists have developed a distinctive style of basketry and individual artists continue to develop new designs and incorporate novel materials, including steel, wire and wood, into their work.
Weaving is a skill that has been practiced by Martu for thousands of years in the making of utilitarian and ceremonial items, such as yakapiri (bark sandals) and manguri (head pads for balancing carved carrying dishes). However, coiled basket weaving as an artform is a relatively newly adopted practice for the Martu, a skill passed on from Central Desert artists in the 1990’s. Leading Martu fibre arts practitioner Nola Taylor says that basket weaving was so popular amongst Martu women that it “spread across the desert like a waru (fire)”.
Each basket is built up through wrapping fine bundles of grass in brightly coloured wool and then stitching each round on to the previous one. The baskets are primarily made from puntayarra and minarri (Amphipogon Caricinus) grass, usually collected incidentally during trips to visit family, attend ceremonies, maintain Country, and hunt and gather bush tucker. Martu artists have developed a distinctive style of basketry and individual artists continue to develop new designs and incorporate novel materials, including steel, wire and wood, into their work.