Wititj, the Olive python
1994
- Medium
- earth pigments on Stringybark (Eucalyptus sp.)
- Measurements
- 304.0 × 72.1 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Naypinya, Northern Territory
- Accession Number
- O.201-1994
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Alcoa of Australia Limited, Governor, 1994
© Djalu Gurruwiwi, courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation - Gallery location
- Gallery 2
Ground Level, NGV Australia - About this work
-
Djalu Gurruwiwi is a prominent yidaki craftsman and bark painter of the Galpu people. The Galpu are a clan of the Dhuwa moiety and one half of what constructs the Yolŋu world (the other being the Yirritja). Wititj, the olive python, is a connective link between the clans of the Dhuwa moeity and is a reoccurring theme in Galpu designs. The Wititj traversed the Country of the Galpu peoples during wangarr (ancestral) times, bringing storms and monsoon rains. While travelling, the Wititj would cross on land, underwater or through underground networks, connecting these three realms. The incandescent colouration of the background is called djarri, (rainbow colours). The Wititj’s elongated body stretches down the bark panel, representing the sandy path it carves out of the landscape as it travels. Speaking of the omnipotence of the Wititj, Djalu once explained: ‘We are all Wititj people. All these people come together for a good event and help each other in friendship. When I go out that way, maybe they call, ‘Wititj coming! Wititj, welcome home!’