DJIRRIRRA WUNUNGMURRA - YUKUWA (HOLLOW LOG)

 DJIRRIRRA WUNUNGMURRA
YUKUWA (HOLLOW LOG),  2017
236 x 18 cm
Natural Earth Pigments on Carved Wood
 
PROVENANCE
Yirrkala NE Arnhem Land, NT
Buku Larrngay Arts, NT Cooee Art Gallery, NSW 
 
STORY
Yukuwa is one of the personal names of the artist and Yukuwa is the topic of this work. Almost a self-portrait. It was made just after her 2012 Best Bark winning painting. This motif ļ¬�rst arose when she had been challenged about her right to paint Buyku the ļ¬�shtrap imagery of her own clan and homeland by a family member. Rather than argue she retorted by painting imagery which in one sense is her own personal identity. The complaints in relation to Buyku evaporated but Djirrirra persists with the Yukuwa imagery with the encouragement of her art centre. This piece is a reference to Yirritja renewal ceremony which is by deļ¬�nition a shared communion of Yirritja moiety clans which does not relate to circumcision or mortuary rites. Spirits of deceased people are on a cyclical journey from their point of death to the reservoir of souls particular to their clan identity. But at these irregular ceremonies they all congregate for one last dance together before heading their separate ways. There are relationships between Yirritja moiety clans that are renewed through Yukuwa ceremony at particular sites which relate to the ritual exchange of sacred objects, song and dance.