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Mirringungu the whale with stingray

Maker Liwukang Bukurlatjpi (1927)

Date1994

Object number00018333

NameBark painting

MediumOchres, bark

Dimensions970 x 640 mm, 3.3 kg
Display Dimensions: 975 x 660 mm, 3300 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionMirringungu The Whale With Sting Ray deals with the coming of the wet season and the ceremonies that must be performed at such a time. It was painted by Liwukang Bukurlatjpi who lives on Elcho Island in the Arafura Sea, part of north eastern Arnhem Land in the NorthernTerritory.HistoryThe residents of the Island are mostly Yolngu and they are divided into two moieties, dhuwa and yirritja.Bukurlatjpi is a senior yirritja man. Bukurlatjpi paints to train artists and to pass on knowledge of his clan's designs to succeeding generations. He also paints to assert to Europeans his rights of ownership over tracts of land and sea.His bark paintings are a form of landscape history. The bands of cross-hatching next to the squid contain the colour sequence black, red, yellow and white.These represent night, sunset, sunrise and the water at midday, respectively. The triangular shapes represent clouds formed from the mists of spray the whale spouts during the wet season. Mirringungu the whale is associated with the relationship between the coming of the wet season and the changes that happen to Yolngu life . In recent years, bark painting has become the dominant medium to express designs at Elcho Island. Bark paintings today are produced exclusively for sale to Europeans. Designs that appear as body painting, sand sculptures, on sacred objects and on memorial poles do not appear on barks. This does not mean that a bark painting is less important than other made objects, rather that because of their importance to Elcho Island economy, more barks are produced than any other kind of artistic expression .SignificanceThe importance of the whale to the Warramli is best portrayed in the following part of a sacred song;

I am the whale
The giant whale
With the mighty tail
My bones are of coral
My mind like a man's
Clever, talented
Cleverest of all

The triangular shapes represent clouds formed from the mists of spray from the whales spout thus also representing the wet season.The sting ray is also associated with the wet season because it is when the young are born. The stingray's sharp tail symbolises a dangerous sacred dance performed at the beginning of the wet season using spears .