Blog

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Yawkyawk (young woman spirit) JM

Yawkyawk swim underneath the rock. They always stay there. When the sun comes out they come out from underneath the river, make themselves warm. They sit and they look around. When they sit, they cry to themselves. Ngaldjorlhbo (mother of everything) she created them. Yawkyawk and the other one [Ngalng] (freshwater crayfish).

The Mimih one is a long way from the Stone Country. He is from my uncles country Barrihdjowkkeng. My uncle is the famous artist Crusoe Kurddal and he carves and paints Mimih.  

Sometimes Yawkyawk sit inside the rock. Sometimes they go out to find the manme (food) and the mankung (sugarbag). Also they can sing inside the rock cave. Sometimes Yawkyawk will see the big rain. When the big rain comes they start looking and when the rain comes they go inside and hide themselves. Some Yawkyawk stay on the dry land in a special place inland from Barrihdjowkkeng. Some of the stones get stuck on the breasts of the Yawkyawk.

In my fabric they are all coming together with the grass trees and leaves and the blowing wind. Some of the leaves will fall onto the water. All the round shapes are kunred (rocky country) with dry grass.

– Janet Kalidjan Marawarr

 

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Mandjabu

Kuninjku people traditionally make two sorts of conical fish traps. One is called mandjabu and is made from a strong, durable vine called milil, and a smaller one is called manylik mandjabu, and made from the grass manylik. The mandjabuconical fish trap is bigger and stronger and used in tidal reaches of creeks to catch large fish. The smaller, lighter manyliktrap is used in freshwater flowing creeks to catch smaller fish and freshwater prawns. In earlier times, only men were involved in the construction of the large fish traps, but children would often crawl inside and assist.

To make mandjabu, weavers firstly harvest milil (burney vine, Malaisia scandens) and put it in water overnight to make it soft. Then they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. People also make string from the bark of burdaga (kurrajong) to attach the bardainy (hibiscus) rings and to tie the conical end of the fish trap. It’s hard work and it can take three or four weeks to make a fish trap. People also use fish-net fences called kunkarlewabe. They would put the kunkarlewabe  across rivers and creeks. In the middle they would place the mandjabu. They also used small things like sticks, rocks, mud and grass to block the fish from going through. This way we would catch fish such as saltwater barramundi rajarra, ngaldadmurrng (freshwater barramundi), small black freshwater catfish (buliya), bonefish (an-guwirrpiya), and sand bass (dalakan) in the mandjabu.

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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djómi (Fresh Water Spirit).

The Djómi figure is a mermaid-like spirit with fish tail that lives in the freshwater stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djómi is known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

“If you go there, you can get pregnant easily. Djómi has babies, and they can give other babies too. The Djómi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djómi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djómi. Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men are too scared of that Djómi. When we visit the Djómi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djómi  crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djómi spirits. They are looking for a mother. This Djómi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djungkay (ritual manager) to paint this Djómi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way. This design also depicts the freshwater lily leaves and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.” Joy Galrbin

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Yawkyawk (young woman spirit)

Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku language, meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’.

Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, yawkyawks are usually depicted with the tails of fish. They have long hair, associated with trailing blooms of algae, typically found in Arnhem Land streams and rock pools.

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Yawkyawk (young woman spirit)

Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku language, meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’.

Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, yawkyawks are usually depicted with the tails of fish. They have long hair, associated with trailing blooms of algae, typically found in Arnhem Land streams and rock pools.

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Wayuk (waterlily)

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Kunmadj (dilly bag) and Kundalk (grass) – Temika

There are two distinct Lino print designs in this fabric. 

The first depicts a kunmadj (dillybag) made with Kundayarr (pandanus fibre). The second tile depicts Kundalk ( grass). 

This is Temika’s first Lino print design. She is the granddaughter of internationally acclaimed fibre and textile artist, Deborah Wurrkidj.

Works in fibre from the Maningrida region are widely recognised as some of the finest in Australia. Artists confidently push the boundaries of fibre craft and cultural expression, adapting traditional techniques and forms to produce strikingly inventive and aesthetically exquisite artworks.  Artists usually use kundayarr, pandanus spiralis, to weave decorative round or oblong mats, as well as the less common triangular and conical shapes. Weaving is physically hard work, now done only by women. They colour the pandanus using natural dyes made from the roots, leaves or flowers of plants within the weaver’s clan estate. 

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Babbarra Mimih

Bábbarra Women’s Centre is named after a billabong.

This design references the Bábbarra logo that shows a female mimih (spirit being).

This fabric was created using the linocut printing technique. The lino tile has been carved by the artist in Maningrida, and has been printed by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile piece is a one-off, limited edition piece. Bábbarra Women’s Centre supports the economic independence of Indigenous women in the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, Northern Territory, Australia. Designs created by the women at Bábbarra reflect strong cultural knowledge, which is passed down to younger generations through their textile design practice.

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Rolk (maggot dreaming)

Rolk, that’s my mothers dreaming. What is it called, maggot? 

This is from the area near Marrkolidjban Outstation, on the way to Maningrida. 

Janet Marawarr

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Woodblock Sari by Bábbarra X Tharangini 2025

Woodblock print on handwoven silk, extract print with organic dyes, 100% Silk

Co-created by Bábbarra Women’s Centre, Maningrida and Tharangini Studio, India

Printed by artisans at Tharangini Studio 

Design brief by Bábbarra Women’s Centre Artists

Woodblock carving by Shri C.H. Sreeram and Shri S.K. Rajak

This fabric may feature the following woodblock designs. 

• Kunred (Country) byJanet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• Kundalk (Grasses) by Deborah Wurrkidj
• Ngaldjorlhbo (Mother of Everything) by Janet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• Yawyyawk (young woman spirit) by Deborah Wurrkidj
• MANDJABU (FISHTRAP) byJanet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• MAREBU (PANDANUS MAT) byJanet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• KUNRED MANKORLOD (MANKORLOD COUNTRY) byJanet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• ROLK (MAGGOT) KUNWARDDE(ROCKS) by Janet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• NGALDJORLHBO (MOTHER OF EVERYTHING) by Janet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• KUNRONJ (FRESH WATER) by Janet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• NGALYOD (RAINBOW SERPENT) by Janet Kalidjan Marawarr 
• MANDJABU (FISH TRAP) by Raylene Bonson
• STINGRAY by Jocelyn Bangardijan Koyole
• RARRK (CROSS HATCH) by Susan Belinj Marawarr
• WAK WAK (BLACK CROW DREAMING) A Susan Belinj Marawarr
• WAK WAK (BLACK CROW DREAMING) B Susan Belinj Marawarr
• KARRBARDA (CHEEKY YAM) by Deborah Kamanj Wurrkidj
• MANBIRRBBIRR (FLOWERS OF VERTICORDIA CUNNINGHAMII) by Deborah Kamanj Wurrkidj
• KUNDALK (NATIVE GRASS)  by Deborah Kamanj Wurrkidj
• WAYUK (WATERLILY) by Deborah Kamanj Wurrkidj
• NGALDADMURRNG (SARATOGA) by Carol Kamanj Liyawanga-Campion
• MERLE MERLE (BUTTERFLY) by Carol Kamanj Liyawanga-Campion
• BOLUNG (RAINBOW SERPENT) by Jay Belinj Jurrupula-Rostron

“I’m excited to see my Lino design made into a woodblock. We are going to spend Saturday printing with Tharangini Studio. We are going to learn woodblock printing. I’ve been working Bábbarra Women’s Centre for 37 years since it started. I’ve been printing Lino on fabric.” Janet Marawarr 2023

“Tomorrow we do printing Yawkyawk (mermaid spirit) and Ngalyod (rainbow serpent). My design is together with my sister. Together, we started working at the Women’s Centre and Maningrida Arts and Culture, taught by our mother and grandmother. My sister is a sick one, and she passed on her story to me – Ngalyod (rainbow serpent). I help my sister, I help carry the knowledge for her. That’s why we both have designs being made into woodblock.” Deborah Wurrkidj 2024

BACKGROUND

Bábbarra Women’s Centre is located in the Djelk area of Arnhem Land, in a town known as Maningrida and was established in 1987. We represent over 50 women artists from 12 languages and operate under the First Nations-owned Bawinanga Homelands Aboriginal Corporation. The artists at Bábbarra Women’s Centre design screen printed and lino print textiles that illustrate the djang or rich cultural narratives, histories and powerful creation stories of West Arnhem Land. The tradition of lino printing began in the mid-1990s as a way for women to become economically empowered.

Tharangini Studio was established in 1977 in Bangalore by artist and textile enthusiast Lakshmi Srivathsa. Today, it is managed by Srivathsa’s daughter, Padmini Govind, whose global corporate career in technology and defence has led to ingenious eco-friendly printing practices within the lush tropical locale. Under Padmini’s leadership, Tharangini is the only artisan studio with a NEST Ethical Seal of Compliance (fair trade). As the last surviving heritage block print studio in Bangalore, Tharangini is home to one of the largest private archives of vintage woodblocks in India

“Karri-djarrk-durrkmirri means “We work together” in the Kuninjku language of West Arnhem Land and its more than cultural exchange with India, it is two way learning.

Tharangini’s skilled artisans worked closely with Babbarra in 2023-2025 to hand-carve some of Babbarra’s old linocut designs into woodblocks. This initiative was supported by the Centre for Australia-India Relations, Maitri Cultural Partnerships Fund 2023.

The creative relationship not only serves art but it also informs a practical and critical archival outcome for Babbarra Women’s Centre. The walls of Tharangini Studio were neatly lined with boxes of durable woodblocks and many over 200 years old and still being printed. At Bábbarra, we house cupboards and shelves of historic and vulnerable lino tiles, some 30 years old but no longer able to be printed.Tharangini Studio specialises in woodblocks carved out of teak by master artisans, creating a solid medium for textile printing. For Bábbarra Women’s Centre artists, this had the added benefit of preserving the original lino designs. Many lino sheets are crumbling and decaying, a process hastened by the kudjewk (wet season) and humid kurrung (build up).

Combining the cultural authority to share djang and print-making practices at Bábbarra Women’s Centre with the tradition of woodblock printing in India, the project exchanges many thousands of years of knowledge across the globe. The Bábbarra artists, as custodians of these designs, must receive permission from their djungkays (ritual manager through the maternal line) to share their stories.

This connection will undoubtedly sustain a lasting and significant impact on the legacy and longevity of Bábbarra Women’s Centre. The story doesn’t end here in honour of the generosity shown by Tharangini Studio, Padmini Govind will join Babbarra Women’s Centre artists in Maningrida for a workshop in June 2025.” 

Extract taken from karri-djarrk–durrkmirri catalogue essay, Jessica Stalenberg 2025