Artiste : Dhuwarrwarr Marika (1945)

Titre de l'œuvre : Gäma-Wukitj Rulyapa

Pigments naturels sur écorce

Format : 134 x 72cm

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

Référence de la peinture : 2673-20

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

Explication de l’œuvre :

This miny’tji represents Rulyapa, the rough saltwater country between Nhulunbuy and the large island of Dhambaliya (Bremer Island), ballooning up from the secret depths, around the sacred rock Manhala, which can be a manifestation of Daymirri. Daymirri is an enigmatic giant sea being (perhaps a whale shark) that according to Rirratjiŋu and Djambarrpuyŋu clan manikay (sacred song) pertains to the saltwater country close to Yirrkala. It is echoed in the dome-shaped rock Manhala which exposes itself at the low tide, above the raŋ (tide marks), bleached white, a patina of brine and weather.

Manhala is one of many names given to the rock. Djambarrpuyŋu and Rirratjiŋu clans have many ‘deep’ names that are intoned by the ritual specialists at the culmination of appropriate ceremony. The sea surrounding the rock, its tidal movements, differing states and the effect it had on Yolŋu visiting this site in Ancestral times is all recorded in the sacred song. As are all the totemic species of marine life that have these ancestral connections to the Rirratjiŋu and Djambarrpuyŋu. O􀀅en painted in this design is Daymirri the whale, Balpa the rock cod, Djumbarr the red emperor, Ḏarrpa the king brown snake and Mutjalanydjal, the dolphin. All of these things and all of their meanings are implied simply by the presence of the miny’tji (sacred clan design) for the water.

It’s not just Manhala and the power associated with deep seated knowledge that makes this area both sacred and dangerous to those entering without authority. There are three other rocks in the area of same qualities but these ones; Wakwakbuy, Mulŋuwuy and Dharrpawuy, are submerged.

Her artworks are in the following prestigious collections :
Rautenstrauch Joest Museum, Cologne, Germany
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney NSW
Artbank, Sydney NSW
Australian Capital Equity Collection, Perth WA
Berndt Museum, University of Western Australia, Perth WA
Charles Darwin University Art Collection
Estate of Kerry Packer Collection
Kerry Stokes Larrakitj Collection, WA
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. USA
South Australian Museum. Adelaide SA
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin NT
Museum Natur und Mensch..

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