Artiste : Dhuwarrwarr Marika (1945)

Titre de l'œuvre : Yalaŋbara

Pigments naturels sur écorce

Format : 190 x 72cm

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

Référence de la peinture : 1522-20

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

Explication de l’œuvre :

The songs which found this work’s meaning start as the Djaŋ’kawu Sisters journey from their mythical Atlantis-like island Burralku. They arrived in North-East Arnhem land at sunrise. Indeed, the name given to this part of Australia is Miwatj or Morning Side referring to the fact that this is the first part of the Top End to see the morning sun.

Matalatj (the elder sister who gives birth later in the story) and Bitjiwurrurru (her younger sister who acts as midwife) have just paddled their canoe a long way and then climbed the sand dunes to where they stop for a rest as the sun rises. The suns rays strike the Buwarta (English name Bustard ) and reflect off the water. As this happens the Sisters sing Buwarta and name it. They do the same as the sun strikes two other important Dhuwa birds related to the Rirratjingu clan , Lindirritj (rainbow lorikeet) and Ŋatili (black cockatoo).

The Sisters put their paddles down and it turned into the sacred djuta tree from which they hung their ceremonial bathi or sacred dili bags. Gowudalbudal (the male shining flycatcher) who sings the side coming in or going out sat on one of those trees.

The work has a representation of the sacred spring or Milŋurr that the Sisters found that morning. To Dhuwa people this motif represents knowledge. The pattern suggests the rippling outflowing waters. A child’s spirit resides in these waters until it gushes into existence and even then it remains watery for some time. Its fontanelle is a lingering manifestation of its origin…

A further stamp of clan ownership to Yalaŋbara is the use of the Rirratjiŋu clan crosshatched design. For those with the appropriate secret/sacred knowledge, the inner sanctums of Rirratjiŋu knowledge of ritual associated with the events of the Djaŋ’kawu can be read.

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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