Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

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Kunkurra (Spiral Wind) – Audrey Top

‘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 the wet season in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra also relates specifically to a site called Bilwoyinj, near Mankorlod, on the artist’s clan estate.

At this site, two of the most important Kuninjku creation beings, a father and son known as na-korrkko, are believed to have hunted and eaten a goanna. They left some of the goanna fat behind at the site, which turned into the rock that still stands there today.

Bilwoyinj site is also a ceremonial ground for a ceremony called Yabbaduruwa, a major ceremony owned by the Yirridja patrimoiety. The Yabbaduruwa ceremony is primarily concerned with initiation, land ownership and promoting the cyclical regeneration of the human and natural worlds.

Sewn by Publisher Textiles Circa 2017

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Kunred Kodbarre (The Louvre)

“This design is new and tells a different story of when I went to Paris. This building in the middle of my design is the Louvre. We went and saw that big building made of glass, and there were lots of people walking around. In Paris, there is a big creek made from bricks, with water flowing through the city. I have painted it here too, with the light poles next to it. There are so many tall buildings in Paris. When I see this design, I remember everything about my trip to Paris. For this design I had the idea of putting our Aboriginal bush tucker around the Louvre, so the plants here are kundayarr (pandanus), wayuk (water lily) and karrbarda (long yam). I painted some French trees too’.

In 2019 five artists from Babbarra Women’s Centre travelled to France for the opening of their exhibition Jarracharra: Dry Season Wind. Deborah Wurrkidj, Jennifer Wurrkidj, Janet Marawarr, Jacinta Lami Lami and Elizabeth Kala Kala danced at the opening of the exhibition to a packed embassy gallery, and hosted various public panels including at the Musee du Quai Branly. The artists featured in Vogue magazine, wearing garments featuring their own printed designs on the balcony of the Ambassador to France, with a panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Inspired by the same voyage, on return to Maningrida Deborah Wurrkidj wove a sculpture of the Eiffel Tower out of naturally dyed pandanus, titled Ngaye ngawam nganang kunred  kukimukken, kubba nakornamkuyeng karri (I travelled a long way away, to that place with the tall tower). The work was a finalist in the prestigious 2020 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA).

Hand Sewn by Rut- Tee Designs 2023

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Man-djarduk (Red Bush Apples) – Audrey Top

Deborah Wurrkidj is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land.

In this design she has depicted man-djarduk (red bush apples) – a sweet, crisp bush food that is a favourite to collect.

Man-djarduk fruits in kurrung and kunumeleng seasons, the build-up and first rains seasons.

Hand made by Publisher Textiles, Sydney 2021

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Man-ngarre (Native Grasses)

Handmade Lino Print Waistcoat Circa 2016

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Mandjabu Top – Archive

Circa 2016 – DAAF Runway

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Collecting Manme (Bush Food)

‘All that jungle around Mumeka, on the other side of the river.. that’s where we go looking for manme (bush food) like manyawok (cheeky yam) and karrbarda (long yam). The yawk yawk (young woman spirit) is holding a kunkaninj (digging stick), kun-madj (dilly bag) and all that manme.’ Jennifer Wurrkidj 2021

Hand made by Rut- Tee Designs 2023

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Collecting Manme (Bush Food) – Grace Top

‘All that jungle around Mumeka, on the other side of the river.. that’s where we go looking for manme (bush food) like manyawok (cheeky yam) and karrbarda (long yam). The yawk yawk (young woman spirit) is holding a kunkaninj (digging stick), kun-madj (dilly bag) and all that manme.’ Jennifer Wurrkidj 2021

Hand made by Rut- Tee Designs 2023

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Kunronj (Freshwater Story) – Zoe Skirt

Jennifer is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land. Jennifer works at Bábbarra Women’s Centre alongside other members of her family who are also accomplished artists too: her mother, Helen Lanyinwanga (now deceased), sister Deborah Wurrkidj and daughter Abigail Namundja. She is a niece of Australia’s most highly acclaimed bark painter, John Mawurndjul, and she is renowned, in her own right, for her bark paintings, hollow logs and carved sculptures.

This design depicts important manme (food) sources from freshwater environments on Jennifer’s country and the implements used to gather these items.  The kunkaninjor digging stick featured in the design is used to dig for wayuk (waterlily) roots in billabongs, which are eaten fresh from the water or cooked on an open fire. The kunkaninj is also used to find and dig freshwater komrdawh (northern snake-necked turtle) that hibernate on the floodplains during the dry season.

Various fish species including the birlmu (barramundi), as shown here, are hunted with a spear or trapped inside a woven fish trap. This manme is carried within kunmadj (woven bags), which are made with fibres from the pandanus tree or sedge grasses, then enjoyed together by the family back at camp.

Hand made by Rut- Tee Designs 2023

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Marebu

Deborah Wurrkidj is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land. She is an accomplished artist working across mediums including painting, sculpture, weaving and textile design. For this design, Deborah Wurrkidj has depicted Marebu (woven pandanus mats).

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 exquisite artworks.

Artists weave many different kinds of mats. Conical mats were traditionally used to shield babies from mosquitoes. Long flat mats were used for blocking creeks so that fish would be diverted into fish traps. A small triangular mat made of pandanus fibre used to be worn by women during ceremonial gatherings, tied around their back and covering them at the front. Mats are also used for wrapping and rinsing food in water.

Artists usually use kundayarr, pandanus spiralis, to weave decorative round or oblong mats, as well as the less common triangular and conical shapes. Weaving is physically hard work, now done only by women. They colour the pandanus using natural dyes made from the roots, leaves or flowers of plants within the weaver’s clan estate.

The radial woven patterns of the finest round mats appear to vibrate with colour, sometimes regarded as an aesthetic manifestation of deep cultural meaning, as there is a significant spiritual dimension to pandanus mats.

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Marebu

Deborah Wurrkidj is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land. She is an accomplished artist working across mediums including painting, sculpture, weaving and textile design. For this design, Deborah Wurrkidj has depicted Marebu (woven pandanus mats).

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 exquisite artworks.

Artists weave many different kinds of mats. Conical mats were traditionally used to shield babies from mosquitoes. Long flat mats were used for blocking creeks so that fish would be diverted into fish traps. A small triangular mat made of pandanus fibre used to be worn by women during ceremonial gatherings, tied around their back and covering them at the front. Mats are also used for wrapping and rinsing food in water.

Artists usually use kundayarr, pandanus spiralis, to weave decorative round or oblong mats, as well as the less common triangular and conical shapes. Weaving is physically hard work, now done only by women. They colour the pandanus using natural dyes made from the roots, leaves or flowers of plants within the weaver’s clan estate.

The radial woven patterns of the finest round mats appear to vibrate with colour, sometimes regarded as an aesthetic manifestation of deep cultural meaning, as there is a significant spiritual dimension to pandanus mats.