Murnubbarr Karrolkan (Flying Magpie Geese) Murnubbarr (magpie geese) are a waterbird found in abundance in the wetland areas of Kakadu and western Arnhem Land. Murnubbarr are a sustainably hunted and enjoyed manme (bush food). They are known to fly long distances, particularly in the wet season.
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 boy and girl Bawaliba, and old Bawaliba too. They loved 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 boy and girl Bawaliba, and old Bawaliba too. They loved Read more…
Man-ngarre (Native Grasses) Elizabeth had a distinctive artistic style, depicting the natural world with loose, organic strokes. Her style was evident in her key designs Kun-ngol (clouds), showing the cloud formations over her floodplain country after the wet season, and the fine detail of Kun-kirh (mud ripples) depicting cracked mud Read more…
Kunkih (Mud Ripples) This design depicts the patterns of the freshwater mud ripples, which emerge after strong monsoonal wet seasons on the Djinkarr and Nangak flood plains. These ripples form on the earth’s surface in delicate repetitive and shifting patterns. The mud ripples move, crack, disappear and re-emerge in response Read more…
Mardarda and Njarlarla In Esther’s first screen design, she depicts the story of Mardarda (bones) and Njarlarla (fire sticks) carried in a dilly bag, reminiscent of traditional ways of the Ndjebenna people. ‘Back in the old days, our people would use a ‘bush lighter’ for lighting fires, which was two Read more…
Kunkurra (Spiral Wind) ‘My designs, they are all alive living up in my head’- Janet Marawarr Janet Marawarr has depicted kunkurra, the spiralling wind associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan. On one level, this design can be interpreted as a depiction of the kinds of mini-cyclones common during Read more…
Kunmadj Kunmadj is the Kuninjku term for large woven collecting baskets, known as dillybags. They are often made from the burney vine (Malaisia scandens), a strong, pliable plant that grows along the ground and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The baskets are used to collect a variety of heavy foods, such as fish Read more…
Gurrpurdu (Diving Bird) A design by emerging textile designer, Charmaine Pascoe. ‘My Gurrpurdu (diving bird) was white. She flew from Gan Gan to Gapuwiyak and then to Yathalamarra. And then she flew to Gartji. At Gartji two fresh water seaweed shoots, one long and one short were trying to keep Read more…