Description

“We find ngalmangiyi (Long Necked Turtles, Chelodina rugosa) in open areas like flood plains. Women will go out looking for “mim”, the small holes the turtles breathe through as they lie buried under the mud. In the old days, women would take a digging stick called “kunbarlkbu”, which they sharpened so it would penetrate the mud. Nowadays women fashion turtling sticks from old pieces of metal, which they sharpen and make wooden handles for. These are called “kubba” (from the English “crowbar”). If the stick makes a knocking sound when it goes into the mud, people know there is a turtle there. People take the turtles and cook them on the fire or in ground ovens, opening them up to eat them. The best times for hunting turtle are the six or so months after Kudjewk (the monsoon season) that occurs in the beginning of the year.”

Kunwinjku art is part of the oldest continuous art tradition in the world. Ancestors of today’s artists have been painting the rock walls of West Arnhem Land for tens of thousands of years. The traditional palette of white, red, yellow and black comes from the ochre that naturally occurs in the region, although contemporary artists sometimes choose to paint in acrylics as well. Kunwinjku artists famously paint using either the traditional rarrk hatching technique, or the more contemporary and complex cross hatching technique which has been adapted from ceremonial painting. These lines are carefully painted using a manyilk, which is a piece of sedge grass shaved down until only a few fibres remain.

The artist: Jabis Nganjmirra

• Artist skin name: Nakangila
• Clan: Djalama
• Born: 1985
• Language group: Bininj-Kunwok
• Community: Gunbalanya (Oenpelli)
• Year created: 2023
• Artwork certificate provided

Jabis Nganjmirra is the son of the late prominent artist Robin Nganjmirra and the late weaver Clara Nganjmirra, née Djorlom. He is quickly developing a reputation as one of the up-and-coming artists of Injalak Arts. His paintings are known for their strong design qualities, balancing a sense of overall pattern with subtle asymmetries which enhance their overall composition. His linework is precise and confident, often combining parallel rarrk (hatching) with crosshatching for visual effect. Jabis Nganjmirra gravitates towards water scenes, which suit his flowing style and reflect his freshwater heritage and Kunwinjku fishing and hunting traditions. With their abundance of overlapping and intertwined billabong life, often in the West Arnhem “x-ray” style, his paintings are sometimes reminiscent of the rock art of Injalak Hill. Jabis paints a range of subjects, including his Dreaming of Yawkyawk or female water spirits from his country at Marlwon. He is part of a younger generation of artists in Gunbalanya whose works are characterised by visual innovation and a strong aesthetic sense.