Yawkyawk Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, Read more…
Wititj and Two Sisters There were two sisters out hunting lizards with their dog when they found Brolga eggs. They started cooking when a quoll approached them. One of the sisters wanted to keep the quoll but the other sister Read more…
Milmilngkan John Mawurndjul and wife Kay Lindjuwanga live at Milmilngkan, near a billabong, and says that underneath the water lies the power of Ngalyod. In this painting, she depicts the power of the place with rarrk (cross-hatching) which contains Mardayin power. Read more…
Wak Wak This painting depicts a sacred site at ‘Kurrurldul’, an outstation south of Maningrida. The ‘rarrk’, or abstract crosshatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called ‘Djimarr’. Today this being exists in the form Read more…
Kartarru (Blue Hills Station, Canning Stock Route Well 24) “This Country is Bugai’s mother’s Country where they would stay for periods of time because they could hunt there and there was good, permanent kapi (water). Kartarru is Well 24 on Read more…
Untitled “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and Read more…
Bush Tucker Depicted in this work are traditional types of bush tucker, their habitats, and their related hunting and gathering methods. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving Read more…
untitled This is Bugai’s Country- her ‘ngurra’ (home Country). The Western Desert term ‘ngurra’ is hugely versatile in application. Broadly denoting birthplace and belonging, ngurra can refer to a body of water, a camp site, a large area of Country, or even a modern house. People identify Read more…
Jila Kujarra (Two Snakes) “Two jila (snakes) travelling. Old Warnman men, maparn (magic) men sat down to sing these snakes to sleep. Then they brought out a stone axe to sneak up and kill them, both snakes. The fat part, Read more…
Kumpupirntily ““If they dig him up, anybody, blackfella, whitefellas they’ll get killed! Ngayurnangalku still there [in Kumpupirntily]. No people gotta go come to this place. If they go there it’s one way! There’s a cannibal there. Don’t come to this Read more…