Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djomi fresh water spirit mermaid.

The Djomi figure is a mermaid like spirit with fish tail that lives in the fresh water stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djomi is a known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

‘If you go there you can get pregnant easily. Djomi has babies, and they can give others babies too. The Djomi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djomi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djomi.

Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men, they are too scared of that Djomi. When we visit the Djomi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djomi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djomi spirits. They are looking for a mother.

This Djomi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djunguys to paint this Djomi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way.

This design also depicts the fresh water lily leaves, and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.

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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djomi fresh water spirit mermaid.

The Djomi figure is a mermaid like spirit with fish tail that lives in the fresh water stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djomi is a known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

‘If you go there you can get pregnant easily. Djomi has babies, and they can give others babies too. The Djomi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djomi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djomi.

Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men, they are too scared of that Djomi. When we visit the Djomi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djomi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djomi spirits. They are looking for a mother.

This Djomi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djunguys to paint this Djomi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way.

This design also depicts the fresh water lily leaves, and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.

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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djomi fresh water spirit mermaid.

The Djomi figure is a mermaid like spirit with fish tail that lives in the fresh water stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djomi is a known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

‘If you go there you can get pregnant easily. Djomi has babies, and they can give others babies too. The Djomi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djomi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djomi.

Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men, they are too scared of that Djomi. When we visit the Djomi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djomi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djomi spirits. They are looking for a mother.

This Djomi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djunguys to paint this Djomi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way.

This design also depicts the fresh water lily leaves, and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.

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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djomi fresh water spirit mermaid.

The Djomi figure is a mermaid like spirit with fish tail that lives in the fresh water stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djomi is a known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

‘If you go there you can get pregnant easily. Djomi has babies, and they can give others babies too. The Djomi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djomi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djomi.

Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men, they are too scared of that Djomi. When we visit the Djomi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djomi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djomi spirits. They are looking for a mother.

This Djomi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djunguys to paint this Djomi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way.

This design also depicts the fresh water lily leaves, and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.

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Major work – Kunmadj, Yawkyawk, Manbirrbbirr

Bush dyed linen – The striking yellow – gold hue comes from the root of the man-kurdudjumuk plant (coelospermum reticulatum) which has been harvested from the sandy country near the flood plains. This laborious and tiring process requires digging up the entire shrub. The root is shaven into a pot of water and the colour is released into water through the boiling process. Kunmadj – Deborah has depicted kunmadj (dillybag), which is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the burney vine (Trophis scandens), a strong, pliable plant that grows along the ground and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect heavy foods, such as fish caught in conical fish traps, or yams. They can also be made from kun-dayarr (Pandanus spiralis), a palm that grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. Tightly woven dillybags are used to collect sugarbag, the native honey. Bush Flowers – In Kuninjku the name manbirrbbirr is used for a number of densely flowering shrubs and small trees including Verticordia cunninghamii, yellow flowering Austromyrtus species and also Acacia platycarpa which also has dense white. Yawkyawk – Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku 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 in Arnhem Land streams and rock pools.

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Major work – Kunmadj, Yawkyawk, Manbirrbbirr

Bush dyed linen – The striking yellow – gold hue comes from the root of the man-kurdudjumuk plant (coelospermum reticulatum) which has been harvested from the sandy country near the flood plains. This laborious and tiring process requires digging up the entire shrub. The root is shaven into a pot of water and the colour is released into water through the boiling process. Kunmadj – Deborah has depicted kunmadj (dillybag), which is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the burney vine (Trophis scandens), a strong, pliable plant that grows along the ground and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect heavy foods, such as fish caught in conical fish traps, or yams. They can also be made from kun-dayarr (Pandanus spiralis), a palm that grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. Tightly woven dillybags are used to collect sugarbag, the native honey. Bush Flowers – In Kuninjku the name manbirrbbirr is used for a number of densely flowering shrubs and small trees including Verticordia cunninghamii, yellow flowering Austromyrtus species and also Acacia platycarpa which also has dense white. Yawkyawk – Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku 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 in Arnhem Land streams and rock pools.

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STORY TBC

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Mimih Dancing

This is an artwork about a dancing Mimih. It’s based on a song line from Korlobidahdah. My fathers eldest brother used to sing this song line and Unkle Dennis he was a dancer. My real father, Jacky was a dancer as well and he was from Korlobidahdah. 

There is also imagery of freshwater crocodiles and barramundi in this artwork, 

This artwork has been hand printed on hand loom Tussar silk sourced from India. 

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Makéddja (Turtle) and Yérda (Sea weed)

Makéddja means turtle in the Ndjébbana language of the Kunibidji people of Maningrida.

 

 

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Makéddja (Turtle)

Makéddja means turtle in the Ndjébbana language of the Kunibidji people of Maningrida.