Maningrida Arts & Culture

Hanger

Wurum (Fish Increasing Spirit) Aboriginal people throughout Australia undertook rituals, which were designed to result in the increase of various natural species. The Rembarrnga people of Central Arnhem Land tell of the spirit being Wurum who had a human form and carried fish in dilly bags. He is sometimes depicted Read more…

Yok (Bandicoot) Brian is junggay (manager) for yok (bandi – coot). The ancestral site for yok is a hill called kordeme near Buluhkaduru outsta – tion. It is a restricted place. People used to hunt yok regularly, however they are rarely seen anymore. Lena Yarinkura explains that in the past Read more…

Mimih and Narawan (Snake) The mimih spirit exists in a realm that runs parallel to and mirrors many facets of human life, also demonstrating the deep sense of time and place understood by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such spirits feature importantly in relation to Aboriginal spirituality, cosmology, social Read more…

Mardayin Design This work concerns a major patrimoiety ceremony of a secret and sacred nature called ‘Mardayin’. Much of the meaning of the iconography in the painting is not in the domain of public knowledge. As such, it cannot be explained in detail here. The painting refers to a site, Read more…

Yawkyawk Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to specific locations in clan estates. These mythologies Read more…

Bush Jewellery – Necklace The women of Maningrida and surrounding homelands use a combination of locally found seeds, bone and shells to make a variety of jewellery including necklaces. earrings and bracelets.  Many of the artists use complex patterns and designs to make their beautiful creations.

Bush Jewellery – Necklace The women of Maningrida and surrounding homelands use a combination of locally found seeds, bone and shells to make a variety of jewellery including necklaces. earrings and bracelets.  Many of the artists use complex patterns and designs to make their beautiful creations.

Goanna, paperpark tree and crack mud stories

Yawkyawk (Ngalkunburriyaymi) This sculpture depicts yawkyawk, a specific Kuninjku word meaning ‘young woman spirit being’. Yawkyawk have fish tails and human torsos and reside in freshwater streams and billabongs. They are sometimes called ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the woman who has a tail like a fish’. They have long hair which is associated with trailing Read more…