Traditional hunting
1952

• David Namirlmirl Mangiru

This work by David Namirlmirl Mangiru was one of the earliest First Nations artworks acquired by the NGV, along with seven others presented by the Department of the Interior. At the time, ‘bark paintings’ of this form and scale were primarily acquired by ethnographic collections and housed in museums and universities. Then director of the NGV, Daryl Lindsay, recognised their aesthetic complexity and began supporting their acquisition. Unlike contemporary practitioners who often work on large sheets of bark, artists from the early twentieth century often made smaller works roughly the size of a human torso. Speaking about this work, Mangiru once said:

This is a painting of Kunwinjku men hunting. One man is spearing Kumoken, the fresh-water crocodile, known as the Johnson River species. Another is spearing Kolobarr, the plains kangaroo. Another hunter who also has a dilly-bag hanging from one shoulder, used for carrying small food items, carries a kangaroo, balanced on his head. A fisherman is carrying dunduhmanj (black bream) and on his head is yibalirr (a string bag). To his left a man holds walabi (fishing net). The figure in the centre is a representation of birriwilk – a well-known rock painting in the area.