Kun-madj – large dillybag vine Kun-madj, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any Read more…
Mimih Spirit The mimih spirit exists in a realm that runs parallel to and mirrors many facets of human life, also demonstrating the deep sense of time and place understood by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such spirits feature importantly in relation to Aboriginal spirituality, cosmology, social and moral Read more…
Kinga (Crocodile) This is a painting of kinga, also known as namanjwarre, the saltwater crocodile (crocodylus porosus). These animals are totems for people of Yirridjdja moiety, one of the two patrimoieties of Arnhem Land aboriginal cultures. Crocodiles are rarely killed for food but their eggs are keenly sought after during Read more…
Wurum (Fish Increasing Spirit) Aboriginal people throughout Australia undertook rituals, which were designed to result in the increase of various natural species. The Rembarrnga people of Central Arnhem Land tell of the spirit being Wurum who had a human form and carried fish in dilly bags. He is sometimes depicted Read more…
Wurum (Fish Increasing Spirit) Aboriginal people throughout Australia undertook rituals, which were designed to result in the increase of various natural species. The Rembarrnga people of Central Arnhem Land tell of the spirit being Wurum who had a human form and carried fish in dilly bags. He is sometimes depicted Read more…
Wurum (Fish Increasing Spirit) Aboriginal people throughout Australia undertook rituals, which were designed to result in the increase of various natural species. The Rembarrnga people of Central Arnhem Land tell of the spirit being Wurum who had a human form and carried fish in dilly bags. He is sometimes depicted Read more…
Coil Basket Coiling technique was introduced in the 1920s at Goulburn Island to the Maung people by missionaries and quickly spread to the mainland. Many artists produce coiled baskets of varied shapes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets made from dyed pandanus. Artists combine colours and Read more…
Yawkyawk (Ngalkunburriyaymi) This is a painting of Ngalkunburriyaymi, the fish-women spirit. The water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk are usually describe and depicted with the tails of Read more…
An-gujechiya (Fish Trap) To make fish traps and fish net fences artists firstly get vine (mirlarl) from the jungle and they put it in water for one night to make it soft. Next they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. Artists Read more…
