‘All that jungle around Mumeka, on the other side of the river.. that’s where we go looking for manme (bush food) like manyawok (cheeky yam) and karrbarda (long yam). The yawk yawk (young woman spirit) is holding a kunkaninj (digging stick), kun-madj (dilly bag) and all that manme.’ Jennifer Wurrkidj 2021
Hand made by Rut- Tee Designs 2023
Name: Jennifer Wurrkidj (dec)
Language: Kuninjku
Community: Maningrida
Biography:
J. Wurrkidj was a highly regarded textile artist who started working at Bábbarra Women’s Centre in 2007. Her print designs featured local bush foods and food-collecting devices such as kunmadj (dilly bag), mandjabu (fish trap) whilst also referencing the activities of ancestor beings and the ceremonial sites of her homeland, Mumeka.
J.Wurrkidj also created artwork for Maningrida Arts and Culture alongside other members of her family who were also accomplished artists: her mother, H. Lanyinwanga (Dec), sister Deborah Wurrkidj and daughter Abigail Namundja. She was the daughter of Australia’s most highly acclaimed bark painter, John Mawurndjul, and renowned, in her own right for her bark paintings, hollow logs and carved sculptures. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout Australia and her textile works are in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, CDU, Bendigo Art Gallery, National Museum of Australia and has been touring internationally with Jarracharra (dry season wind) since 2019.
In her later years she focused her arts practice on mentoring her daughter Abigail Namundja who printed her lino designs in her capacity as an arts worker at Bábbarra Women’s Centre.
Bawáliba and Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent) ‘My Kikka (mother), when she was alive, she would tell me these stories. I was just a little girl and she would tell us the stories in her language Gurrgoni. Read more…
Bawáliba and Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent) ‘My Kikka (mother), when she was alive, she would tell me these stories. I was just a little girl and she would tell us the stories in her language Gurrgoni. Read more…
Bawáliba and Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent) ‘My Kikka (mother), when she was alive, she would tell me these stories. I was just a little girl and she would tell us the stories in her language Gurrgoni. Read more…