Spirit in Bark Exhibition - Wak Wak by Rosina Gunjarrwanga

This Artwork is part of Koskela's current exhibition Spirit in Bark: A Celebration of Bark Art from Across Oceania, featuring a collection of works from Elcho Island Arts, Maningrida Arts & Culture and Omie Artists.

Exhibition Catalogue

Description:
This painting depicts a sacred site at 'Kurrurldul', an outstation south of Maningrida.  

The 'rarrk', or abstract crosshatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called 'Djimarr'. Today this being exists in the form of a rock, which is permanently submerged at the bottom of Kurrurldul Creek. The 'Djimarr' rock in the stream at Kurrurldul is said to move around and call out in a soft hooting tone at night. Both the stone itself and the area around it are considered sacred.  

The imagery represents the rock mentioned above at the bottom of Kurrurldul creek, which is the final transmutation of the dreaming ancestor 'Djimarr'. Finally, the pattern used here is also the crow design used in the sacred 'Mardayin' ceremony, which is a large regional patri-moiety ceremony now rarely conducted in central and eastern Arnhem Land. 

Title: Wak Wak
Artist: Rosina Gunjarrwanga
Medium:    Stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetradonta) with Ochre Pigment and PVA Fixative
Dimensions (cm): 86 x 25cm
Catalogue Number: 244-21