Feathered Dancing Belt, 1996

87 cm (feathered portion) plus ties, 86 cm total length

Est. $400 – $600

Provenance: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Arnhem Land, NT, Cat No. 6549 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: This rare, feathered dancing belt by Bob Burruwal demonstrates the ongoing vitality of ceremonial regalia produced in Arnhem Land. The belt, composed of handspun fibre and natural feathers bound with ochre, embodies both aesthetic refinement and cultural function. Worn during ritual performances, such belts carry meaning far beyond ornament, linking dancers to ancestral narratives and country through material and movement. The rhythmic interplay of white and earth-toned bands, accented with trailing feathers, lends the work a visual dynamism that translates powerfully even when removed from its original performative context. Collectors will note not only its rarity and authenticity but also its immediate visual appeal—an object whose presence resonates both as art and as an emblem of living tradition.

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Sale 2 · Lot 24

Bob Burruwal

1952 – 2021

87 cm (feathered portion) plus ties, 86 cm total length

Est. $400 – $600

Provenance: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Arnhem Land, NT, Cat No. 6549 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: This rare, feathered dancing belt by Bob Burruwal demonstrates the ongoing vitality of ceremonial regalia produced in Arnhem Land. The belt, composed of handspun fibre and natural feathers bound with ochre, embodies both aesthetic refinement and cultural function. Worn during ritual performances, such belts carry meaning far beyond ornament, linking dancers to ancestral narratives and country through material and movement. The rhythmic interplay of white and earth-toned bands, accented with trailing feathers, lends the work a visual dynamism that translates powerfully even when removed from its original performative context. Collectors will note not only its rarity and authenticity but also its immediate visual appeal—an object whose presence resonates both as art and as an emblem of living tradition.