
Wilson Manydjarri Ganambarr | Ancestral Shark and Sacred Rock
"This is a yindi yäku (big name) place where the Ḏäṯiwuy shark lives. It is called Buḻurruma Ḻukuḻuku, and also Gaḻthunmirri Galthaḏikpa. That place, called Rinydjalŋu, belongs to a troublemaker. At Rinydjalŋu, the Ḏäṯiwuy shark will just see you and take you. In this picture, he was alive, traveling from his home, and he’s alive now—he’s still there, going around. He was there, at his place in the saltwater, and he heard the Yirritja Water Guḻarri coming downstream—Guḻarri, from Dhäliny, from that place. From Muṯuwili, from Dhanaraŋala Guyambiyambi— the two “big name” Yirritja places of the Wangurri clan. The Yirritja Water was singing out the songlines, singing all the place names along that journey. He called it out, “dhaaaaa o!” And what was the Water ancestor carrying as it went along? The kernels of cycad nuts—cycad nuts that we pound, in a bag, in a dillybag, a ŋaḻiwarrkarr, in a string bag known as a murrmiri. The Stone ancestor came along and planted its legs in the ground, the legs of the stone, that sacred rock Dhukururru. "
– WILSON MANYDJARRI GANAMBARR
More Info
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Additional Information
Decade
2021
Medium
Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark
Dimensions (IN)
84 15/32 x 17 5/16
Dimensions (CM)
214.5 x 44
Credit
Collection of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter
Clan
Ḏäṯiwuy
The Ḏäṯiwuy clan’s homeland is at Rorruwuy, on the shore of the eastern side of...
Clan
Wangurri
The Wangurri homeland is at Dhalinybuy, a freshwater community on the Cato River surrounded by...
About The Artist

Clan
Dates
Born c.1945
Alternative Names
Wilson Manydjarri Ganambarr
The son of Mowarra Ganambarr, Manydjarri Ganambarr is the current leader of the Ḏäṯiwuy clan. He splits his time between Milingimbi, Yirrkala and Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island) and has painted for all three art centers. He is an extremely knowledgeable and powerful song man who paints intricate designs from both his mother’s and father’s estates.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia