Rainbow Serpent, 2000

natural earth pigments on bark

178 x 87cm

$3,500

Enquire about this work

Provenance: Maningrida Arts & Culture, Maningrida, NT, Cat No. 14462000BP Accompanied by an original certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts & Culture
Exhibited: Bark Paintings 1930-2000, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, July 2011
Artwork story: The Ngaloyd or Rainbow Serpent, is a powerful mythological figure for all Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Characteristics of the rainbow serpent vary greatly from group to group and also depending on the site. Often viewed as female generative figure, the rainbow serpent can sometimes also be male. She has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and of course the colour seen in rainbows which arc across the sky like a giant serpent. For Aboriginal people in Northern Australia, the rainbow serpent is said to be active during the wet season. Often she is associated with billabongs and freshwater springs where she resides, and she is responsible for the production of most water plants such as water lilles, water vines, algae and palms which grow near water. The roar of the waterfalls in the escarpment country is said to be her voice. Large holes in stony banks of rivers and cliff faces are said to be her tracks. She is held in awe because of her apparent ability to renew her life by shredding her skin and emerging anew. Aboriginal myths about the rainbow serpent often describe her as a fearful creature who swallows humans only to regurgitate them, transformed by her blood. Aboriginal people today respect and caretake sacred sites where the rainbow serpent is said to reside. Often certain activities are forbidden at these places for fear that the wrath of the great snake will cause sickness, accidents and even tempests. This is not always the case however, and there are many rainbow serpent sites today where people may enter to hunt, fish and swim.

Stockroom

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Paul Nabulumo Namarinjmak

b. 1971

Region: Arnhem Land
Community: Maningrida
Language group: Kuninjku

Rainbow Serpent, 2000

natural earth pigments on bark

178 x 87cm

$3,500

Enquire about this work

Provenance: Maningrida Arts & Culture, Maningrida, NT, Cat No. 14462000BP Accompanied by an original certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts & Culture
Exhibited: Bark Paintings 1930-2000, Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, July 2011
Artwork story: The Ngaloyd or Rainbow Serpent, is a powerful mythological figure for all Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Characteristics of the rainbow serpent vary greatly from group to group and also depending on the site. Often viewed as female generative figure, the rainbow serpent can sometimes also be male. She has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and of course the colour seen in rainbows which arc across the sky like a giant serpent. For Aboriginal people in Northern Australia, the rainbow serpent is said to be active during the wet season. Often she is associated with billabongs and freshwater springs where she resides, and she is responsible for the production of most water plants such as water lilles, water vines, algae and palms which grow near water. The roar of the waterfalls in the escarpment country is said to be her voice. Large holes in stony banks of rivers and cliff faces are said to be her tracks. She is held in awe because of her apparent ability to renew her life by shredding her skin and emerging anew. Aboriginal myths about the rainbow serpent often describe her as a fearful creature who swallows humans only to regurgitate them, transformed by her blood. Aboriginal people today respect and caretake sacred sites where the rainbow serpent is said to reside. Often certain activities are forbidden at these places for fear that the wrath of the great snake will cause sickness, accidents and even tempests. This is not always the case however, and there are many rainbow serpent sites today where people may enter to hunt, fish and swim.