Highlights
In this work Samuel Namunjdja has painted kunkurra,
the spiralling wind associated with several sites
in the Kardbam clan estate. On one level, this
painting can be interpreted as a depiction of
the mini-cyclones common during the wet season
in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra
also relates specifically to a site called Bilwoyinj,
near Mankorlod, on Namunjdja's clan estate. At
this site, two of the most important Kuninjku
creation beings, a father and son, known as the
Nakorrkko, hunted and ate a goanna. They left
some of the goanna fat behind, which turned into
the rock that still stands there today. The word
‘Bilwoyinj’ – the name of this
site – also refers to the goanna fat. The
Bilwoyinj site is also a ceremonial ground for
Yabbadurruwa, a major ceremony owned by the Yirridjdja
patrimoiety. The Yabbadurruwa ceremony is primarily
concerned with initiation, landownership and promoting
the cyclical regeneration of the human and natural
worlds.
Samuel Namunjdja
Wind Dreaming 2004
natural pigments on bark
157 x 68 cm
Private Collection
|