Bamugura

Bamugura are a particular type of weaving made in Arnhem Land for a variety of practical purposes. They may be worn by women as a skirt, be folded to carry a baby and opened out to form a dome under which babies and small children can sleep protected by the elements and insects such as milkmilk (mosquito) and gatjirri (sand flies). In certain areas they are also employed in ceremony.

In north-eastern Arnhem Land the form is known as Ngainmara and it is connected to clan designs that are painted on the body. This connection is derived from the pattern of light and shade cast on the bodies of children being shaded from the sun, with the weft and warp of the weaving casting a cross-hatched like pattern of light and shadow on the skin. The Djang’kawu used Ngainmara for their children, as seen in the bark painting by Mawalan Marika in the Gallery’s collection, ‘Djang’kawu creation story’ 1959.