Maningrida comes from the Ndjébbana phrase mane djang karrirra, meaning ‘the place where the totemic ancestors transformed.’ The community is located in Central Arnhem Land, a region defined by linguistic and cultural diversity, home to twelve language groups, 110 clans and 32 outstations or homelands. 

Kuninjku fibre artists are renowned for the depth and range of colours they achieve from boiling stripped pandanus leaves with various roots, leaves, berries and ash. ‘Spirit’ beings, such as the mimih (Kuninjku) and djómi (Ndjébbana), are carved from thin trunks of various softwoods. As this body of work from deceased and emerging artists conveys, old ways continue to evolve as they are passed on through the generations.

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