JIMMY BUNGURRU - MIMIH SPIRIT

JIMMY BUNGURRU
MIMIH SPIRIT,  1979
182 x 17 x 12 cm; 25 cm (stand)
Ochre on Carved Wood
 
REGION
Maningrida, NT
 
PROVENANCE
Maningrida Arts & Culture, NT Cat No. 6828
Coo-ee Art Gallery, NSW Cat No. 572
Degiosart, Singapore Cat No. GDG-SCABO008
Art Leven, Redfern Gadigal NSW
 
STORY
Within the cultural knowledge systems of Western Arnhem Land, Mimih spirits are regarded as ancestral beings who predate human existence. According to oral traditions, the Mimih inhabited the rocky escarpments of the Arnhem Land plateau and lived according to a social structure closely resembling that of Aboriginal people. They are credited with transmitting foundational knowledge to the first humans, including techniques of hunting, food preparation, and the ceremonial practices of singing, dancing, and painting.
 
Mimih are typically described as extremely slender and fragile spirits, with such delicate necks that even the slightest breeze is said to pose a mortal danger. For this reason, they are believed to emerge from their stone shelters only during periods of complete stillness—on calm, windless days and nights. At the first sign of wind, they retreat swiftly into the crevices of the escarpment, disappearing into the rock.