Lorrkon – Yawk Yawk (Freshwater Mermaid) The Lorrkon is a hollow log coffin used by the people of Arnhem Land, Australia. It consists of a tree trunk hollowed out by termites and painted by a clan member of the deceased, with the bones placed inside. The Lorrkon ceremony is the final Read more…
Mimih Spirit Aboriginal people of western Arnhem Land say that their Mimih rock pictures were painted not by humans but by the Mimih spirits. The drawings, usually in red ochre, show elegant, graceful stick-like human figures in action – fighting, running, dancing, leaping and hunting , preparing meat and using Read more…
Mamurrkbijinungkwa (Hunting Spear) Leanne and Joshua collect wood together, they bend spears over fire to make them straight, help each other by stripping, bending, and carving the wood into spears. Leanne paints the spears and Josh does the cutting and carving. Together these beautiful spears are made. “We have to Read more…
Rarrk This rarrk (cross-hatching) design has been achieved using a manyilk. Manyilk is a sedge grass, dried and shaved down to create an extremely fine paint brush.
Amreba A simple bowl used to store and carry food and other items. Joshua has carved this piece from heavy Ironwood
Waterhole at Dilebang Dilebang is a sacred place, belonging to members of the Kurulk clan. Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent), lives in the waterhole with a single Carpenteria palm tree growing out of her back, it is known to many that the bones of the Ancestors who died at Dilebang are inside Read more…
Wak Wak (Crow) Wak is the language word for black crow in many Kakadu and West Arnhem language groups. It is also the name for a significant and sacred djang (dreaming) site in West Arnhem Land at a place called Kurruldul, specific to bininj (aboriginal people) of the Kurulk clan. Read more…
Djulng (Bones of deceased ancestors) When artists depict Djulng, they represent the bones of deceased ancestors, deriving from the djang (dreaming) place, Dilebang. Dilebang is an extremely sacred site outside of Maningrida, that visitors and family members are strictly forbidden to visit or stay in fear big rain and storms will be cast Read more…
Mimih Spirit Aboriginal people of western Arnhem Land say that their Mimih rock pictures were painted not by humans but by the Mimih spirits. The drawings, usually in red ochre, show elegant, graceful stick-like human figures in action – fighting, running, dancing, leaping and hunting , preparing meat and using Read more…
Kunkurra (Two Wind Dreaming) The artist has painted kunkurra, the spiralling wind associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan estate. On one level, this painting can be interpreted as a depiction of the mini-cyclones common during the wet season in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra also relates Read more…