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Kunmadj

Kunmadj is the Kuninjku term for large woven collecting baskets, known as dillybags.

They are often made from the burney vine (Malaisia scandens), a strong, pliable plant that grows along the ground and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The baskets are used to collect a variety of heavy foods, such as fish caught in conical fish traps or a good harvest of yams. As well as being of practical use, dillybags are of cultural significance to Arnhem Land people. Dillybags are totemic objects and they are associated with particular sites in the landscape.

Categories: Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

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.

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© the artist / art centre