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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…

111980820367

Namorrorddo a profane spirit Namorrorddo is a profane spirit sometimes called a ‘bad angel’ in Aboriginal English. The Namorrorddo is a yirridjdja moiety being associated with the Yabbadurruwa regional cult ceremony. Namorrorddo sits upon a rock and is usually painted Read more…

111980821720

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…

111980824193

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…

111980824188

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…

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