Modjarrkki (crocodile story) ‘This is a true story. My great great grandfather and my father told this story and I tell it to my children. It’s about a freshwater crocodile called Modjarrkki. One day an unmarried man who was camping with Read more…
Bawaliba 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. In the camps there were Read more…
Kundayarr 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 Read more…
Wak (Black Crow Dreaming) 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 of a rock, which is permanently submerged at the bottom of Read more…
Wak 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 of a rock, which is permanently submerged at the bottom of Kurrurldul Creek. The Read more…
Bamboo Shoot ‘I see bamboo everywhere where i go in Maningrida. I see it at every house – it’s a common house plant. When i see bamboo i get excited because i feel at home. Bamboo makes me feel good.’ Read more…
Djabayéna (conefish) A sawfish or ‘conefish’ in Ndjébbana. The saw shaped snout of the fish is traditionally used as a rasp in working wood.
Bolung Bolung (Rainbow Serpent) is from the sacred country of Dukala- Djarranj. This is the country of Jay’s grandparent and a place of great significance, as Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent, travelled through the landscape. Rock art in the area depicts a rotund Read more…
Ngalkunburriyaymi (Mermaid) Ngalkunburriyaymi Kuninjku people call mermaids yawkyawk, but in my language, Kune, we call them Ngalkunburriyaymi (pronounced Ngaal gun borro yay mee). The Ngalkunburriyaymi depicted in my artworks is from a place called Marra-yii (sp?). There are too many Ngalkunburriyaymi living at this place. They Read more…
Yawkyawk in Stone Country Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku/Kunwok 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 Read more…