Namarrkon the Lightning Spirit Namarden or Namarrkon are Eastern Kunwinjku names for the Lightning Spirit. This entity, which is responsible for lightning and thunder, is painted on both stone and bark in a form described as ‘like a grasshopper’. Namarrkon is said to have made Ngaldjurr – Leichardt’s or the Read more…
Kunmadj and Kunkarninj This is kunkaninj (digging stick) from my country at Kœnidjangka. Kunkaninj is used to dig yams, but is also an important Duwa moiety totemic ancestor. It shares the same songline as barlangu (shark) and wankurr (sacred Mardayin ceremonial dilly bag). Also depicted are kunmadj (dilly bag).
Burlupurr (Dilly Bag) Burlupurr, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of Read more…
Kun-madj (Dilly Bag) Kun-madj, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of Read more…
String Bag String bags can vary greatly. Artists commonly use a mix of naturally dyed and undyed fibre to create a striking variation of coloured bands. Some artists also incorporate different types of looping to produce different patterns and textured finishes. Each type of fibre bag, mat, basket and dilly Read more…
String Bag String bags can vary greatly. Artists commonly use a mix of naturally dyed and undyed fibre to create a striking variation of coloured bands. Some artists also incorporate different types of looping to produce different patterns and textured finishes. Each type of fibre bag, mat, basket and dilly Read more…
Galabarrbarr In Burarra and Gun-nartpa languages the figure represented in this artwork is generally known as a wangarra ‘ghost spirit’. For the Warrawarra clan ghost spirits have their own particular characteristics and their own name – Warraburnburn. The Warraburnburn and the closely related Galabarrbarr spirit (owned by the Balkarranga clan) are also manikaysong topics. The spirits Read more…
Galabarrbarr In Burarra and Gun-nartpa languages the figure represented in this artwork is generally known as a wangarra ‘ghost spirit’. For the Warrawarra clan ghost spirits have their own particular characteristics and their own name – Warraburnburn. The Warraburnburn and the closely related Galabarrbarr spirit (owned by the Balkarranga clan) are also manikaysong topics. The spirits Read more…
Coil Basket Coiling technique was introduced in the 1920s at Goulburn Island to the Maung people by missionaries and quickly spread to the mainland. Many artists produce coiled baskets of varied shapes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets made from dyed pandanus. Artists combine colours and Read more…
Daluk Ngagodjek The following information comes from an interview with Jack Nawilil transcribed by linguists Murray Garde and Margaret Carew in December 2017. The narratives represented in Nawilil’s artworks are extremely complex and often antithetical to Western knowledge systems. His artworks reference and manifest multiple places, clans and events that Read more…