Title

Djan'kawu creation story, from the series Djan'kawu story

1959

Artist

Mawalan Marika

Australia

circa 1908 – 26 Nov 1967

Language group: Rirratjingu, Arnhem region

Artist profile

Details

Other Titles

Djanggawo Creation Story
Djang'kawu Creation Story
Djanggawul Creation Story
Djanggawo Creation Story
Djanggawull Creation Story
Djang'kawu story no. 5

Place where the work was made

Yirrkala → North-east Arnhem Land → Northern Territory → Australia

Date

1959

Media category

Bark painting

Materials used

natural pigments on bark

Dimensions

188.0 x 64.8 cm (irreg.)

Signature & date

Not signed. Not dated.

Credit

Gift of Dr Stuart Scougall 1959

Location

Not on display

Accession number

IA68.1959

Copyright

© Estate of Mawalan Marika/Copyright Agency
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Mawalan Marika
Artist profile

Works in the collection

16

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About

Mawalan Marika was a great law man with extensive sacred knowledge. He led key parts of the Djang’kawu and Wawilak ceremonies, which are the basis for most of his paintings. Marika was one of the first artists at Yirrkala to begin painting barks for sale, and a passionate advocate for his people’s cultural and land rights.

The Djang’kawu, a man and two sisters, are the primary ancestral creator beings for the Dhuwa moiety of central and north eastern Arnhem Land. Yalangbara, where the Djang’kawu landed after their canoe journey from Burralku (an island to the east), is the most important location painted by Marika. The Marika family consider themselves to be Mayarr Mayarr – the children of the Djang’kawu. In a series of five large bark paintings, Marika depicted the Djang’kawu journey by canoe across the sea, and their activities after they landed at Yalangbara. These paintings are considered to be the most comprehensive visual narratives of the Rirratjingu ancestral song cycle in existence.

This bark depicts, at bottom: At Arnhem Bay - the life cycle of the Djan'kawu Sisters. The women's blood is represented on the two circles at left. On the right side the large circle represents the flow of water, the two smaller circles, the placenta. They are shown with strings tying their legs back. The four separate circular shapes in this section represent the sacred conical mats for the female children.
lower left: This section shows the sacred objects (rangga). Eight were planted to make shade for the children. Four other rangga (djuda trees) are shown growing at the extreme left in Ngaymil country.
lower right: A place at Arnhem Bay where the two Sisters and Djan'kawu watch a sunrise and sunset that can be seen in the two panels on the extreme right. Djan'kawu is urinating.
upper: Depicts a site near Milingimbi. The two sisters give birth to the people of Milingimbi. The yellow figures are men and boys, the black figures women and girls. The placenta of one of the women is also depicted.
top left: At Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island). After death the spirits of the Djan'kawu sisters receive new names. The circle in the centre is a swamp. The lines on either side depict lily leaves. The red background behind the sisters represents their grave. After this they go to the spirit land.
top right: Depicts Djan'kawu at Yalangbara (Port Bradshaw). The sacred rangga with feathered pendants is shown. Djan'kawu (also identified in the original documentation as Mawalan, the artist) is shown looking at the rangga and singing. The cross-hatching in this section represents earth and grass.

© Information provided by the artist, and the Australian art department, AGNSW
Places

Where the work was made

Yirrkala
Exhibition history
Shown in 8 exhibitions
- Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Aug 1960–18 Sep 1960
  
  Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, Oct 1960–Oct 1960
  
  Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, Nov 1960–Dec 1960
  
  Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth, Feb 1961–Mar 1961
  
  Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Apr 1961–Apr 1961
  
  Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, May 1961–Jun 1961
- Gamarada, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Nov 1996–16 Feb 1997
- A material thing - Objects from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 31 Aug 1998–09 Feb 1999
- Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
- Yalangbara, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 11 May 2006–23 Jul 2006
- One sun, one moon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 03 Jul 2007–02 Dec 2007
- Open Air: Portraits in the landscape, National Portrait Gallery [Parliamentary Zone], Canberra, 04 Dec 2008–01 Mar 2009
- Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Canberra, 09 Dec 2010–25 Sep 2011
  
  Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu, Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 26 Nov 2011–17 Jun 2012
  
  Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu, Western Australian Museum, Perth, 17 Nov 2012–24 Feb 2013
Bibliography
Referenced in 18 publications
- Claire Armstrong, Art World (issue 6), 'National Portrait Gallery', pg. 64-69, Sydney, Dec 2008-Jan 2009, 68 (colour illus.), 69. Open Air: Portraits in the Landscape review.
- Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Art Gallery of New South Wales: highlights from the collection, Sydney, 2008, 30, 31 (colour illus.).
- Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art', pg. 208-241, Sydney, 1999, 212 (colour illus.).
- David Leeming, David Leeming and Margaret Leeming, Encyclopedia of Creation Myths, 1994, (illus.).
- Frederick D. McCarthy, Australian Aboriginal art: bark paintings, carved figures, sacred and secular objects: an exhibition arranged by the State art galleries of Australia, 1960-1961, 'Introduction', pg. 7-17, Sydney, 1960, 12, 23 (illus.), 28. cat.no. 71; plate 12
- Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 93 (colour illus.).
- Howard Morphy, One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia, ‘Making the familiar unfamiliar: The aesthetics of Eastern Arnhem Land art’, pg. 73-77, Sydney, 2007, 77 (colour illus.).
- John Mundine and Renée Porter, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Aboriginal and Melanesian', pg. 57-71, Sydney, 1988, 60, 61 (colour illus.).
- Margo Neale, Yiribana, Sydney, 1994, 6 (colour illus.).
- Margo Neale, Yiribana: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, Sydney, 1994, 38, 39 (colour illus.), 137, 139.
- Barry Pearce, Look, 'A quiet love affair: private passion over 33 years gives birth to a book', pg. 26-29, Sydney, Sep 2014, 29 (colour illus.).
- Barry Pearce, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 10-16, Sydney, 2000, 13 (colour illus.), 301.
- Hetti Perkins and Ken Watson, A material thing - objects from the collection, Sydney, 1999, 6.
- Laura Critchley, Dynasties: the Marika family, Sydney, 2003, (colour illus.). This episode of 'Dynasties' was first screened on ABC television on Monday 1 December 2003 at 8:00pm.
- Andrew Sayers, Australian art, 'Icon and abstraction 1951-68', pg. 174-195, Oxford, 2001, 192-193, 194 (illus.). plate no. 112
- Andrew Sayers, Sarah Engledow and Wally Caruana, Open air: portraits in the landscape, 'Open air: Portraits in the landscape', pg. 3-66, Sydney, 2008, 6, 9 (colour illus.), 15. NOTE: Photograph of the artist, Mawalan Marika appears on page 8.
- Ken Watson, Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia, 'Mawalan Marika', pg. 78, Sydney, 2004, 78, 79 (colour illus.).
- Margie West (Editor), Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu, Darwin, 2008, 69 (colour illus.).