Magpie Geese and Turtle, 1999

natural earth pigments on plywood

90 x 182 cm

$8,800

Provenance: Bula Bula Arts, Ramingining, NT Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: At the end of the monsoon season when the magpie geese lay their eggs the Ganalbingu people would go out into the Arafura Swamp in stringy bark canoes and collect the eggs from the hundreds of nests - which were sometimes thought of as the resting place for souls. Another favourite food scource are long neck turtles. During the season the flocks of geese number in the tens of thousands and people could collect 44 gallon drums full of these rich and delicious eggs. In 1986 Dorothy Djululul, her brother George Milpurrurru and husband Djardi Ashley performed at the Sydney Biennal by constructing a low-relief sand sculpture (a composition of two separated circles around a metre in diametre with grass added like a goose nest) George Milpurrurru and Charlie Djurrutjini (his brother) sat in these rings and rocked back and forth like eggs about to hatch while Jimmy Djelminy ( the painter of this beautiful work) sang and the company danced. Later Djardi and Charlie standing back to back inside one of the rings stood in a crucifixion-like pose with their arms outstretched on either side - they rocked back and forth representing the mast of a Macassan prahau rocking at sea - they were then sung over and washed with water - the cleansing ceremony was the major performance during the opening ceremony of the Biennal. Story in part related by Djon Mundine OAM

Click to enlarge

1946 – 2003

natural earth pigments on plywood

90 x 182 cm

$8,800

Provenance: Bula Bula Arts, Ramingining, NT Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Artwork story: At the end of the monsoon season when the magpie geese lay their eggs the Ganalbingu people would go out into the Arafura Swamp in stringy bark canoes and collect the eggs from the hundreds of nests - which were sometimes thought of as the resting place for souls. Another favourite food scource are long neck turtles. During the season the flocks of geese number in the tens of thousands and people could collect 44 gallon drums full of these rich and delicious eggs. In 1986 Dorothy Djululul, her brother George Milpurrurru and husband Djardi Ashley performed at the Sydney Biennal by constructing a low-relief sand sculpture (a composition of two separated circles around a metre in diametre with grass added like a goose nest) George Milpurrurru and Charlie Djurrutjini (his brother) sat in these rings and rocked back and forth like eggs about to hatch while Jimmy Djelminy ( the painter of this beautiful work) sang and the company danced. Later Djardi and Charlie standing back to back inside one of the rings stood in a crucifixion-like pose with their arms outstretched on either side - they rocked back and forth representing the mast of a Macassan prahau rocking at sea - they were then sung over and washed with water - the cleansing ceremony was the major performance during the opening ceremony of the Biennal. Story in part related by Djon Mundine OAM