Artist: January Nanganyari -Namiridali 1901-72
Collected circa 1970
Title - Lumah-Lumah The Dreamtime figure " Boomabooma
Actual bark Size 91.cm x 47cm Painting is framed behind glass
This work came from the McIntosh Gallery , University of Western Ontario, Canada
Donated to the University by Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd through the courtesy of The Australian Council
Lumah Lumah , the primary figure of the Maraian ceremony. This giant was brought from somewhere near Indonesia by a cyclone which flung him into a coastal islet called Goirbeeba long, long ago. Lumah Lumah is feared by many of the mainland Aboriginals and killed many of the neighboring Aboriginals including the son of Wullur who was an important leader. Tied of living in fear Wullur painted his body white and called on all his friends to join him by painting their bodies white and venturing forth to slay Lumah Lumah. January Nanganyari depicts in this bark the stalking of Lumah Lumah.
The story of Lumah Lumah is told by other tribes besides the Gunwinggu.
It was also a favorite subject matter for the artist Yirawala.
The "Mardayin" ceremony is performed all over Arnhem Land, where it is also known as "Maraian" and, when performed, attracts men from far afield; they re-enact the myths in a festival that takes place over a number of weeks. In Numbulwar, an Aboriginal community on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the ceremony is also known as "Ngarrag". Here too the community is made up of two moieties, called Dua (or Dhuwa) and Yirritja; during the ceremonial cycle rituals are conducted during late afternoon. Actors of the Dua moiety perform first, followed by the Yirritja men. Men are painted with designs representing their "Dreaming" or clan association. There are many different rituals, some taking place on a secret ceremonial ground, only to be seen by men; others may be seen by all. The ceremony culminates in ritual bathing, in which everybody, men, women and children, go to the beach and immerse themselves, dancing in the sea and washing off the ochre and clay with which they were ritually painted; this way the actors, men and women, re-enacting the deeds of the Dreamtime beings in the mythical past, leave the designs sung and painted on their bodies behind and re-emerge from the water as people again. The ceremony can be considered a festival for the souls of men and for the Dreaming places of the shades of the species of nature..
SOLD
|
