Artiste : Buwathay Munyarryun (1962)

Titre de l'œuvre : Mäṉḏa - Octopus

Pigments naturels sur écorce

Format : 47 x 26 cm

Provenance et certificat original : centre d'art aborigène de Yirrkala

Référence de la peinture : 4909-19

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

Explication de l’œuvre :

The entire painting has been covered with the Wangurri clan design for an area of saltwater covering the country called Wulwala - close to what is know as Cape Wilberforce. Here the water is flat and clam creating a shimmer to the horizon. This condition of saltwater is called Gunbirrk, then to emphasis his knowledge as a senior man amongst the ranks of traditional lawmen he intoned the deeper names for the same area; Rakurrurru Madawuluwu Riŋgurram Mawalam Dhalatj Rakuna. The triangular shapes are the sunset striking the late Dry season Thunderheads on the horizon referencing the sails of the Macassan vistors departing to return again. Hidden under this water is the rock Dhukurrurra, its foundation cemented into the sea bed as is the totem giant clam Dhalimbu. At the base of this work are Wangurri totemic beings associated with the ocean floor and this foundation. They are depicted adorned with the sacred design of the sacred water that surrounds them as well as the triangular design for the clouds on the horizons that connect this place with others associated with the clans sharing aspects of Wangurri lore. The painting can also be seen as a cross section through this part of the ocean. In the songs Dhalimbu sits firm at the bottom with the turtle Malarrka having the job of a caretaker at this site as does Manda the octopus (featured iconography), then Madi the crayfish and Limin the squid. Shells of the cuttlefish floating on the surface of the water are on another level the Wangurri Yothu (child/unborn) held in the reservoir of Wangurri soul, held safely in the jaws of the sacred. In viewing the painting this way the state of the water changes from that of salt to fresh as the intimate knowledge the land owners have with their estates proclaim subterranean rivers of freshwater from the land, surface under sea at this place Wulwala. So from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of the sea and up to the stratosphere all is connected and part of the cycle through which the life force pulses through infinity. "This is very important to my people - you steal fish or camping in this area without permission. Its mine that area - I run the (sacred) business."

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