Untitled
(early 1950s)
- Medium
- earth pigments on stringybark (Eucalyptus sp.)
- Measurements
- 60.0 × 40.0 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- North-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
- Accession Number
- 2015.253
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Louise Rath through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2015
© The Estate of Munggurrawuy Yunupingu, courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala - Gallery location
- Gallery 2
Ground Level, NGV Australia - About this work
-
This work represents the Fire Dreaming of the Madarrpa people associated with the saltwater clan estate of Yathikpa. Here Bäru, the ancestral crocodile, carrying and being burnt by the Ancestral fire, crossed the beach from Garrangali (Crocodile’s nest) and entered the saltwater. Ancestral hunters, on seeing dugong, took their hunting harpoon and canoe out to the sea of Yathikpa in pursuit. The hunters were lured too close to a dangerous rock by the dugong, seeking shelter. The dugong here feed on the gamata, a sea grass that is a manifestation of flames on the seabed. Fire at this sacred site boiled the water, capsizing the canoe.