Provenance
Painted at Milingimbi Crocodile Islands Central Arnhem Land, NT
Private Collection, Vic
Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, Sydney, June 2000, Lot No. 219
Private collection, NSW
Story
This painting represents the sacred creation myth of the Gupapuyngu people – the Djan”kawu Sisters. The story of their landing in a canoe on the north east coast of Arnhem Land and their subsequent travels is recorded in this symbolic painting. The black and red squares (centre) represent the sacred waterholes where the sisters gathered shellfish and the site where men’s sacred ceremonies take place. The bands and triangles of the cross hatching are the waters feeding the sacred waterholes whilst the bands and triangles of yellow cross hatching indicate the sandy banks of the creeks and rivers in the country in which they travelled and hunted. The whole story runs parallel to the sacred Wagilag Sisters myth of the Liyagalawumirri.
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