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Ngalng – Major Work

Ngalng (fresh water yabby)

‘This is a story from Mankorlod. This is a djang story. This is the creation story about the fresh water yabby. Starting with the stone, that’s the raw one and the cooked one. The stone rock suddenly turned to ngalng, in a flash. Ngalng started growing and turned into a body. It’s a magic one and it can change from rock to ngalng to human and back to ngalng. Now it’s a ngalng. 

The country is near Mankorlod and Korlobididah. The ngalng is stuck there forever on the rock at Korlobididah,’ 

‘There is also duruk (camp dog) called ‘Djanbokkon’. This is a duruk that comes from water and no one has seen it. This is a true duruk, he goes everywhere in the country. His body is striped. He is a secret dog and he has a secret story.’ Janet Marawarr 2022

This textile featured in Jan Vogue 2022 when it was worn by emerging and aspiring Maningrida Model, Cindy Rostron.

https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/news/cindy-rostron/image-gallery/00b6f4c1e75b074842e41271a256980b

Categories: Babbarra Women’s Centre

Name: Janet Marawarr

Language: Kune, Kuninjku

Community: Maningrida

Biography:

Janet is a senior Kuninjku artist at Babbarra Designs working with lino tiles and screen print designs. Janet is renown for her use of cut out lino tiles which she prints in intuitive repeat patterns on a range of textile surfaces. Janet regards textile design as an opportunity to work with colour and new methods to express her djang (ancestral creation stories).

‘I like lino, print my design and doing different way to print my lino, different colours and different way. I print lino Yawkyawk (spirit woman) and Ngaldjorlhbo (mother of Everything). This was an old lady and she create that language and the world before. I also print also Rolk (maggot), my mother design cause I’m the Djunkay (land manager) for her.’  Janet Marawarr 2020

As well as her artistic work with Bábbarra Women’s Centre, she is an established bark painter with Maningrida Arts & Crafts and she works for the Maningrida Night Patrol, a community safety service.

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