Artiste : Djambawa Marawili (1953)

Titre de l'œuvre : Mundukul Lightning Snake

Format : 73 x 43 cm

Pigments naturels sur écorce d'eucalyptus

Provenance et certificat : centre d'art aborigene de Yirrkala

Référence de la peinture : 470-19

Explications sur cette œuvre :

Baraltja is the residence of Burrut’tji (also known as Mundukul) the lightning serpent. It is an area of flood plains that drain into northern Blue Mud Bay. It is on country belonging to the Madarrpa and denotes an area of special qualities pertaining to fertility and the mixing of waters. From Madarrpa (and Dhalwaŋu clan) land freshwater spreads onto the Baraltja flood plains with the onset of the Wet. A tidal creek into the Bay flows with the freshwater flushing the brackish mix into the sea over an ever shifting sandbar (the snake manifest). The deep hole that he lives in is Lorr…

It is from here that the water (soul) transmogrifies to vapour to enter the ‘pregnant’ Waŋupini (Wet Season storm clouds) which carry the life giving freshwater back to rain on the escarpment of the Mitchell Ranges- the watershed and the start of the cycle.

© Photo & text : Aboriginal signature with the courtesy of the artist, & Buku-Larrngay Mulka.

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