
"I'm going to tell you about my paintings; about the water, just the water. It will come running up and splash upon the rock. It will be just the water and the bubbles that splash. Yes, this is the meaning of the water.
And if my brother Djambawa sees this, he will support me. For he holds the inside foundations. Those are for my brother. And for me, his sister, it is the surface. I will not go to the depths of his foundations. I will do my paintings from the outside and go along from that.
The deep foundations and sacred sites are for the men alone. I will not take away from the men their thoughts, because I’ve got my own ideas, from the waters that form the outside part. The deep foundations are for the men, and this is just the water, my own ideas.
I will draw flames, but of burnt areas. Where the land is smooth and burned. And if my brothers Gumbaniya and Djambawa see this, they will agree with it.
And of the lightning designs, that is also of the surface of Maḏarrpa waters. Where the lightning splashes and the snake Mundukuḻ raises his head. When the tongue of the beast lights up the water. That is it's Manhanha..... Mukumilŋinymi, Gaymarrana.
And that is when it lights up the water. It will name the places and create the sacred sites. And for us, it will create a home place, for us Maḏarrpa clan. I haven't done much, but have done a small bit of it.
Those ones and this are the only pictures I have, ok? And I won't do anything else, there's something there for me. But I don't want to borrow from the men, that sort of things ok.
I'm going through the outside part on my own for this. Otherwise someone might spy on me. They would think of me and say; she's in control, a female and will kill me.
But I don't do anyone else’s paintings. I only do our own Yirritja paintings, only the water, that runs and splashes. Only for us Maḏarrpa and Dhaḻwaŋu, clans not for anyone else. Everything is fine and good. There's nothing that makes me feel bad, everything's fine and good."
– NOŊGIRRŊA MARAWILI
More Info
Baratjala is a Maḏarrpa clan estate with waters prone to cyclones, crocodiles, huge tides, and ripping currents. The designs in Noŋgirrŋa’s piece show the rock in deep water between the lightning of the ancestral serpent.
Lightning is an important factor in the spiritual and daily life of the Maḏarrpa clan at Baratjala. The area has one of the highest numbers of lightning strikes.
They are also the manifestation of sacred words in lightning form, according to the artist.
Watch The Mulka Project's documentary film Gapu ga Guṉḏa on the art of Noŋgirrŋa Marawili:
– Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre
Additional Information
Decade
2018
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
69 11/16 x 40 5/32
Dimensions (CM)
177 x 102
Credit
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.
The 2017-19 Kluge-Ruhe Maḏayin Commission.
Purchased with funds provided by the Kluge-Ruhe Advisory Council, 2019. 2019.0008.001
Narrative
Maḏarrpa
Maḏarrpa is a Yirritja moiety clan. Major spiritual themes include Bäru, a Maḏarrpa ancestor who...
Songline
Burrut’tji | Lightning Snakes
Burrut’tji is the name for Lightning Snakes. There are several Lightning Snakes, belonging to different...
Location
2010s
The 2010s saw Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka go from strength to strength. At the National Aboriginal and...
About The Artist(s)

Clan
Maḏarrpa
Artist Dates
Born c.1939
Noŋgirrŋa Marawili
Noŋgirrŋa Marawili is among Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. She is the daughter of Mundukuḻ Marawili, the wife of Djutjatjutja Munuŋgurr and the mother of Marrnyula and Rerrkirrwaŋa Munuŋgurr—all significant artists. Her works are held in every state collection in Australia, and in 2018, she was honored with a retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. She has received numerous awards, including the Telstra Bark Painting Award, which she won in both 2015 and 2019, and the Roberts Family Prize in association with the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Wynne Prize, which she won in 2019.
Collections Represented
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Australian National Maritime Museum
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory