Mäna
Date2018
Object number00055922
NameFish carving
MediumEarth pigments on native hibiscus
DimensionsOverall: 270 × 700 × 215 mm
Copyright© Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionCarved wooden sculpture by Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr of Mäna.
Mäna is a generic name for large adult man-eating sharks and could include Bull, Tiger or Bronze Whaler sharks.
Although this is specifically not a sacred rendition it is worth noting that Mäna is Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr's own Djapu clan identity.
In ancestral times, Mäna travelled around the coast and through various Dhuwa moiety clan's country. In those times, powerful spirit beings like Mana could change form at will. These spirit beings shaped and marked the country with their activities, and gave their culture to the clans. Through the knowledge and objects they left, present day clansmen affirm their rights to country and have access to the ancestral power.
HistoryThis shark is known by the Yolŋu word Mäna and represents the artist's own identity. Although this is specifically not a sacred rendition it is worth noting that Mäna is the artist's own Djapu clan identity. In ancestral times, Mäna travelled around the coast and through various Dhuwa moiety clan's country. In those times, powerful spirit beings like Mäna could change form at will. These spirit beings shaped and marked the country with their activities, and gave their culture to the clans.
Through the knowledge and objects they left, present day clansmen affirm their rights to country and have access to the ancestral power. In Djambarrpuyqu clan country, Mäna was hunted and killed by a Yirritja moiety spirit man, Ganbulabula. Mäna's body was chopped up by Ganbulabula and pieces of it were washed to the country of several Dhuwa clans.
The head, wanda, ended up at Wandawuy in Djapu country. Mäna himself also travelled to Wandawuy, and to Dhurruputjpi, another site in Djapu country. At these places, Mäna was changed to a Djapu man and said, 'this country will always belong to Djapu people'. Spring water gushed from the ground where it was struck by the shark’s tail.
In Djapu country, Mäna changed himself into a white gum tree when the billabongs - flooded during the wet season - dried up. These white gums can still be seen around his sites.
SignificanceGuykuḏa Munuŋgurr is the only artist at his homeland of Garrthalala. He has distinguished himself as a completely innovative sculptor who pioneers new materials and techniques. One of the themes that he has pursued is the natural representation of animal species without reference to their sacred identity. This is one such work.
