We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Title

Niwuda (Yirritja honey)

collected 1960

Artist

  • Details

    Other Titles
    Yirritja honey bee
    Yirritja Honey Bee design (Niwuda)
    Yirritja honey bee design
    Place where the work was made
    Milingimbi Central Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia
    Date
    collected 1960
    Media category
    Bark painting
    Materials used
    natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
    Dimensions
    74.5 x 35.0 cm (irreg.)
    Signature & date

    Not signed. Not dated.

    Credit
    Gift of Dr Stuart Scougall 1960
    Location
    Not on display
    Accession number
    IA48.1960
    Copyright
    © Binyinyuwuy Estate. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd

    Reproduction requests

    Artist information
    Binyinyuwuy Djarrankuykuy

    Artist profile

    Works in the collection

    16

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  • About

    Binyinyuwuy celebrates the communal joy associated with collecting sugarbag (wild honey) in Niwuda (Yirritja honey) c1960. This intricate bark painting, consisting of diamond-patterned designs painted with brilliant ochres, refers to the Gupapuyngu Daygurrgurr clan of Binyinyuwuy’s mother. The hive is ingeniously depicted, with the variations in colour referring to the honeycomb filled with honey, wax, pollen, dead bees and debris. The black circle and pointed cone represent the built-up opening of the hive, while also referring to sacred objects made of painted and decorated wood or rolled paperbark bound with string, to signify honey in ceremony.

  • Places

    Where the work was made

    Milingimbi

  • Exhibition history

    Shown in 5 exhibitions

  • Bibliography

    Referenced in 4 publications

    • Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Steven Miller, Tony Tuckson, James Scougall, Mollie Gowing, Harry Messel, Craig Brush, Ronald Fine, Alison Fine, Gordon Davies, Rosalind Davies, Christopher Hodges, Helen Eager, Rosemary Gow, Sandra Phillips, Daphne Wallace and Ken Watson, Gamarada, Sydney, 1996, 38 (colour illus.).

    • Djon Mundine, One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia, ‘The concept of style in Central Arnhem Land’, pg. 99-104, Sydney, 2007, 98 (colour illus.).

    • Hetti Perkins and Ken Watson, A material thing - objects from the collection, Sydney, 1999.

    • Cara Pinchbeck, Art from Milingimbi, ‘Binyinyuwuy’, pg. 44-59, Sydney, 2016, 53 (colour illus.), 140.

Other works by Binyinyuwuy Djarrankuykuy

See all 16 works