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…
Man-mobban (Billy Goat Plum Leaves) Man-mobban are the leaves of the man-morlak tree (billy goat plum). The small, green plums can be found in abundance on Susan’s homeland, Mumeka.
Kandji ‘Minmanyarr is the wetlands area before Mumeka, my homeland. There are always a lot of birds there, including this Kandji (Jabiru). The Kandji belongs to the Yirridja moiety, so I call this bird mother. They are looking for fish and turtle in the billabong area, in the mud. There 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 long hair, associated with trailing blooms of algae, typically found Read more…
Wak Wak – Deborah Wurrkidj Wak Wak (Black Crow Dreaming) by Deborah Wurrkidj 2105. This design 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 Read more…
Yawkyawk dja Wayuk Deborah Wurrkidj is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land. This image depicts a female water spirit, (yawkyawk) with wayuk (waterlily) from a creek in the rock country near Yikkarakal. The Yawkyawk is a story of the Read more…
Wubbunj (Paperbark Canoe) “Wubbunj is our traditional canoe. This design is the old history story of how people came to live in this place we call Maningrida. Two old people were staying on the other side of the saltwater, in Narlarrambarr area. The old people slept in a paper bark Read more…
Bawáliba (Stone Country Mimih) ‘Bawáliba is the djang (Dreaming) of my mother and my uncles. They are good spirits, they protect us and they recognise families. They are really tall- just like human beings, like us. They dance late at night and have a lot of hair. In olden times, Read more…
Mandjabu (Fish Trap) – Helen Lanyinwanga In old times people would make these mandjabu (fish traps) to go fishing. They are made with vine we find in the jungle. That old man, Anchor [Gulunba], he showed me how to make these fish traps. I would sit there and watch him Read more…
River and Rocks “This river we call Mangabo. It is near Gudjarrngarrl homeland of my daughters, Deborah and Jennifer Wurrkidj. We cross that river when travelling to Munmoy outstation. In the wet season, that water comes up and covers over those rocks, and when you look down there are rocks Read more…