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Click to enlarge- Region
- Unknown / Unspecified
Galpu clan - File Snake and Lillies; Mokoy, Trickster Spirit; Untitled, c.1970
natural earth pigments on stringy bark
55.5 x 16 cm; 51 x 13.5 cm; 24 x 13.5 cm (framed)
$1,800
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- Provenance
- Purchased Arnhem Land, NT Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, Qld Private Collection Vic
- Artwork story
- The first of these small barks represents the intertwined systems of freshwater life. Each element has ceremonial resonance - the snake is a water spirit and guide; the lilies, signs of seasonal change and ecological abundance. Mokuy are ghost-like spirits in Yolngu cosmology, often portrayed as agents of mischief, danger, or moral correction. The Kangaroo is rendered in the X-ray style typical of Central and Western Arnhem Land tradition. Works like these speak to the longevity of ancestral narratives - and the enduring mystery of art created within systems where authorship is communal, and knowledge held in trust.