Ngalkanyja (Frilled-Neck Lizard) The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony is the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the Read more…
An-gujechiya (Fish Trap) To make fish traps and fish net fences artists firstly get vine (mirlarl) from the jungle and they put it in water for one night to make it soft. Next they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. Artists Read more…
Coil Basket Coil basketry is a well-established fibre art form in the Maningrida region, especially for women from the Kuninjku, Rembarrnga, Ndjebbana and Nakkara language groups. Artists make coiled baskets of many shapes and sizes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets, and made mostly from pandanus Read more…
Jarrka (Goanna) Jarrka is the Burarra word for a species of goanna (Varanus gouldii) which are associated with a site called Ngarla Ji-bama in East Central Arnhem Land. This place is associated with a complex of other sites including: M-bucha, Ji-gurremangunyja and Mu-garlmbarl. The Ancestral being, Jarrka, travelled a long Read more…
Nguykal (Golden Trevally) This is a depiction of Nguykal, the Golden Trevally [Gnathanodon speciosus]. In the early times of creation, Nguykal, the Trevally ancestor, travelled as two fish from the east along the coast. As he travelled along the coast he named clans or bapurru. These clans include Gamarl, Mardarrpa, Read more…
Gurndarra (Mullet) Bark paintings have a long cultural tradition, believed to extend back many thousands of years. In northern Australia, the walls of bark shelters in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land may well have been painted to convey and illustrate stories in the same way that rock shelters were. Bark painters in the Maningrida Read more…
Rajarra (Barramundi) Rajarra (barramundi in Burarra language), is an important food source in this region. These fish are caught throughout the artist’s clan estate, either in fishtraps woven from pandanus or sedge grass, or else hunted with spears and fishing lines in billabongs and streams where they shelter from the Read more…
Kabbari Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent) The artwork depicts Ngalyod at Kunyikuymi. Kunyikuymi is djang (a Dreaming site) for the Marladj djang (orphan story) and is a highly sacred place. The area is located on the Goomadeer [Kumadderr] River around 16km southwest of Mamardawerre outstation. Two djang at Kunyikuymi represent the orphan Read more…
Waterholes at Kubumi Kubumi is a sacred site on the Mann River. This is its story, as told by a ritual manager of the site, Lulu Laradjbi, with the authority of her husband Mick Kubarkku, a land owner of that country. Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent pierced the rock at a place Read more…
Djamo (dog) The djamo (dog) holds special mythological as well as practical significance for people of Central Arnhem land, particularly women. The men used to go hunting with a spear and the women with a dog. If the men didn’t catch a kangaroo, the women would catch a goanna. If neither Read more…