Madarrpa at Baykuldji, c.1995

natural earth pigments on bark

153 x 49 cm

$3,000

Provenance: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, NT, Cat No. 1830E Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Buku Larrngay Mulka
Exhibited: Bark Paintings 1930-2000, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, July 2011
Artwork story: The artist is the son of deceased Madarrpa elder Wakuthi and younger brother to current ceremonial leader and high profile artist Djambawa Marawili. The Madarrpa clan away from their major residence of Baniyala have estate country further south on the Koolatong River at Baykuldji. The site is sacred to Baru, the ancestral crocodile and is a nesting place thus a special place of fertility. Where there is life there is also death so in regard to this place, rituals performed for Madarrpa mortuary will have song and dance having reference to this place. A pair of Bary are depicted in the freshwaters of the river that has been embeud by their presence and represents the power of fire within. This design belongs to the top Madarrpa. The other panel depicts a more specific site in the area where a sacred log has fallen across the river, a manifestation of Dhakandjali the hollow log or coffin. Here the miny'tji or design becomes more dense. Water rats run across the log and Gany'tjurr the heron look on.

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b. 1956

natural earth pigments on bark

153 x 49 cm

$3,000

Provenance: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, NT, Cat No. 1830E Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Buku Larrngay Mulka
Exhibited: Bark Paintings 1930-2000, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, July 2011
Artwork story: The artist is the son of deceased Madarrpa elder Wakuthi and younger brother to current ceremonial leader and high profile artist Djambawa Marawili. The Madarrpa clan away from their major residence of Baniyala have estate country further south on the Koolatong River at Baykuldji. The site is sacred to Baru, the ancestral crocodile and is a nesting place thus a special place of fertility. Where there is life there is also death so in regard to this place, rituals performed for Madarrpa mortuary will have song and dance having reference to this place. A pair of Bary are depicted in the freshwaters of the river that has been embeud by their presence and represents the power of fire within. This design belongs to the top Madarrpa. The other panel depicts a more specific site in the area where a sacred log has fallen across the river, a manifestation of Dhakandjali the hollow log or coffin. Here the miny'tji or design becomes more dense. Water rats run across the log and Gany'tjurr the heron look on.