Yathikpa II

Artist Bakuḻaŋay Marawili (1944 - 2002)

Date1998

Object number00033778

NameBark painting

MediumNatural pigments on bark

DimensionsOverall: 2080 × 660 mm, 5.9 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with the assistance of Stephen Grant of the GrantPirrie Gallery

Terms

DescriptionThis bark painting portrays the sacred saltwater of Yathikpa where the ancestral crocodile Bäru brought the fire to the saltwater. At the top of the painting are depictions of the sacred rock Marrtjala (in the form of Bäru's eggs), the sea grass Gamata and two dugongs. The artist has used a miny'tji (sacred clan design) that refers to the saltwater, Bäru, Gamata and the ancestral fire that embodies the waters at Yathikpa.HistoryThe Yolnu people of Arnhem Land inhabit a landscape that was formed by the actions of ancestral beings, who can take both human and animal form. For instance water now flows where these creatures walked and hills have formed where they died. Ancestral time is not just in the past but also the present and future. In light of this the sacred landscape and stories of East Arnhem Land are central to the Yolnu people’s way of life and prominent themes in their bark paintings. The Saltwater Project began in 1996 after an illegal fishing camp was discovered at Garranali, a sacred Aboriginal site in East Arnhem Land. This sacred area is home to the ancestral crocodile Bäru and found among the litter of the illegal camp was the severed head of a crocodile. This discovery prompted the local Yolnu people to produce a series of bark paintings that expressed the rules, philosophies and stories of their region. The project culminated in the production of 80 barks and stressed the importance of Yolnu land ownership, laws and codes of behaviour for those who interacted with the landscape. The Yolnu have been involved in the land rights struggle since the 1960s. They currently are recognised as the traditional owners of northeast Arnhem Land under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. This act was passed in the Northern Territory in 1976 and is seen as the benchmark for the recognition of Aboriginal land ownership in Australia. Despite this the issues of Indigenous land ownership, rights, customs and law continue to be contentious in the Australian legal system and wider community.SignificanceThis bark is representative of the people belonging to the Yirritja moiety of the Madarrpa clan of the homeland in Baniyala. It is one of 80 barks that were painted by the Yolnu people of East Arnhem Land in an attempt to express their stories, land rights and laws.