dreaming

"Every artist should share their knowledge ... to give it life"

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:21:11 +0100

Artist wants story shared | Northern Territory News | Darwin ... August 13th, 2010

THE Territory artist who won a category of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award has called for elders to share their stories with youth to ensure they are not lost.

Wukun Wanambi won the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award with a carving that combines stories from the land and sea. The 48-year-old, of Yirrkala, said Bamurrungu represented stories of the Territory's Yolngu people.

"The painting is the story of the fish - how fish rotate from creek to creek, river to river and ocean to ocean," he said.

Mr Wanambi said he only knew these stories because he listened to his elders.

"Every artist should share their knowledge ... to give it life," he said.

www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/08/13/171681_ntnews.html

WUKUN WANAMBI

Mithili Wanambi, Wukun's father, a renowned artist died on 5th March 1981.
Wukun, his eldest son (d.o.b 18.5.62) was only 18 at this time and not yet
fully schooled in the sacred design of his arm of the Marrakulu clan who
sing the saltwaters of Gurka'wuy Trial Bay.

When the Yolngu began to organise to paint their sea country in 1997 the
Djunggaya or managers of this group bequeathed him the designs they had
been holding in trust since his father's death. Wukun was deemed ready to
learn and it was crucial that his area be represented.

In 1998 Wukun's first ever bark painting (made for the "Saltwater-Yirrkala
Bark Paintings of Sea Country" national touring exhibition and book) won
the Telstra NATSIAA Best Bark Painting Prize. In 2004 his larrakitj
(memorial pole) was Highly Commended in the three dimensional category of
the same Award.

"Since my father passed away... ten years later I started to come as an
artist. Now I have been recognised by the old people and the art galleries
as a ceremony man. When I was doing the sea rights thing that gapu hit me
really hard. Thats when I realised how important that gapu was to me and
how the guya was connected to gapu. And thats when I concentrated on these
two pieces of pattern."

gapu = water, guya=fish.

Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre
Raft Artspace - Artists - Wukun Wanambi -
www.raftartspace.com.au/.../WukunWanambi.html-

Ordinary dreams

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:07:12 +0100

The 'ordinary' dreams of the Yolngu in Arnhem Land.

Cawte J.

The phenomena of dreams have been accorded significance by all branches of mankind of which there is record. Australian Aborigines in their traditional cultures are no exception, although unfortunately the printed record of their dreams is meagre. This paper reports nine dreams which were volunteered by Arnhem Landers of the present day.

The subjects they dreamed about represent a mélange of traditional and introduced concerns competing for attention, including lifting a taboo, portents and auguries, a shark attack, a brake failure in a truck, a mysterious light in a cave, a visit from the dead, a disappointing love tryst, a drink problem and the Christian revival movement. The ordinary dreams of Aborigines resemble those of modern Western subjects in aspects such as frequency, duration, clarity of recall, shifts in attention and derailment of the narrative, but they differ from them in being accorded more significance and in being more reflected upon during waking hours.

In this respect, Aborigines infer a closer connection between the dream and the waking life.

PMID: 6593054 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Dreaming

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:55:42 +0100

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