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Click to enlargeSale 2 · Lot 38
Charlie Djimalala Brian
b. 1956
- Region
- Arnhem Land
Larrakitj (Memorial Pole), c.1995
193 x 11 cm
Est. $3,000 – $5,000
- Provenance
- Maningrida Arts and Culture, Arnhem Land, NT Private Collection, Albany NY
- Artwork story
- Charlie Djimalala Brian’s painted hollow log (larrakitj) comes from Buluhkadaru, near Maningrida, and belongs to a long ceremonial tradition in which such poles are used as bone coffins. The geometric diamond designs, painted in natural ochres, carry totemic associations linked to Honey Bee or Termite Dreamings, as discussed by senior Maningrida art advisor Andrew Hughes at the time of acquisition. The precise cross-hatched fields exemplify Brian’s disciplined hand and deep knowledge of ceremonial design, translating ancestral law into a form both sculptural and painterly. The work is not simply decorative: it is a vessel of memory, genealogy, and land, created within the rhythms of Yolngu ritual practice.