Mäna
Date2018
Object number00055919
NameFish carving
MediumEarth pigments on wood
DimensionsOverall: 390 × 1110 × 385 mm
Copyright© Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionCarved wooden sculpture of Mäna the Ancestral Shark by Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr.
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 Mana 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 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. In Djambarrpuyqu clan country, Mäna was hunted and killed by a Yirritja moiety spirit man, Ganbulabula. Mana'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.SignificanceThe sculpture is of Mäna the Ancestral Shark. Mäna is the identity of the artist Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr who is the only full time artist at his homeland of Garrthalala (Caledon Bay).
Munuŋgurr 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.
