Artist: Michael Boiyool-Anning | Title: Shield - Fruit Bats heading out | Year: 2004 | Medium: natural earth pigments on wood | Dimensions: 102 cm
PROVENANCE
Red Back Art Gallery
ARTWORK STORY
Fruit bats can be found within a 35-kilometre radius from the village of Ravenshoe 100 kilometres south-west of Cairns, yet still on Yidinji country. The Warrigal Highland Rainforest Preserve in the Misty Mountains is a suitable habitat for a colony of nomadic Little Red Flying foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) also referred to as Fruit bats, that use a patch of rainforest over a creek as a temporary roost or ‘camp’ site. The spectacle of bats rising up from the canopy to depart for their daily feed of nectar and fruits in the rainforest. These bats play a vital role in the dispersal of seeds to maintain the continued growth of the rainforest. Traditionally, the rainforest once provided a sustainable habitat for Yidinji people, with access to plants for food and medicinal purposes, therefore they did not need to venture far from their country. The culture of the rainforest peoples is considerably different from other Aboriginal groups, because of their proficient knowledge of toxic plants and arboreal skills that also influenced the making of very unique weapons. Shields used by the rainforest peoples were given to young men when they were taking their rite of passage through the initiation ceremony and were a significant part of the man’s possessions, and decorated with designs that identified them and their country to other groups.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Atherton Tablelands Region, QLD
LANGUAGE
Yidinyi
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Anning is recognized as the foremost indigenous artist in QLD to rejuvenate the unique tradition of shield, sword and firestick making. He became interested in traditional artefacts and wood carving at the age of thirteen. He began by selling items to tourists until an Arts Grant allowed him to focus wholeheartedly on his craft. In 1989, he won the Wanjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Through his winning piece, Dulgubarra, Rainforest Dwellers, Anning said he hoped to create awareness of the rainforest people who, like his grandfathers, once lived and roamed beneath the dark green rainforest canopy of the Atherton Tablelands.
The shields are cut from the large spreading roots of the softwood fig tree, while swords, firesticks and smaller artefacts are cut from the branches. They are carved by hand over time and then decorative designs are incised and painted on with ground earth ochres and charcoal. The totemic designs represent aspects from traditional life including lightning bolts, boomerang and shell patterns, and fish net, snake and water skater motifs. They are thought to provide protective powers. These shields and swords required much strength and skill to wield, both in the ritualized combat of ceremony and in real tribal battles, sometimes left stained with blood to increase the warrior’s standing. Anning provides continuity with his cultural history, the red ochre dots that adorn his swords, he says, paying tribute to blood spilled more recently when his people were displaced from the rainforests.
Anning’s unique sculptural carvings have appeared in exhibitions in Australia and overseas. He is represented in numerous public and private collections.
REFERENCES
https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au
Biographies at www.daaao.org.au
artists at cairnsartgallery.com.au
PROVENANCE
Red Back Art Gallery
ARTWORK STORY
Fruit bats can be found within a 35-kilometre radius from the village of Ravenshoe 100 kilometres south-west of Cairns, yet still on Yidinji country. The Warrigal Highland Rainforest Preserve in the Misty Mountains is a suitable habitat for a colony of nomadic Little Red Flying foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) also referred to as Fruit bats, that use a patch of rainforest over a creek as a temporary roost or ‘camp’ site. The spectacle of bats rising up from the canopy to depart for their daily feed of nectar and fruits in the rainforest. These bats play a vital role in the dispersal of seeds to maintain the continued growth of the rainforest. Traditionally, the rainforest once provided a sustainable habitat for Yidinji people, with access to plants for food and medicinal purposes, therefore they did not need to venture far from their country. The culture of the rainforest peoples is considerably different from other Aboriginal groups, because of their proficient knowledge of toxic plants and arboreal skills that also influenced the making of very unique weapons. Shields used by the rainforest peoples were given to young men when they were taking their rite of passage through the initiation ceremony and were a significant part of the man’s possessions, and decorated with designs that identified them and their country to other groups.
Artist Profile
COMMUNITY/REGION
Atherton Tablelands Region, QLD
LANGUAGE
Yidinyi
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Anning is recognized as the foremost indigenous artist in QLD to rejuvenate the unique tradition of shield, sword and firestick making. He became interested in traditional artefacts and wood carving at the age of thirteen. He began by selling items to tourists until an Arts Grant allowed him to focus wholeheartedly on his craft. In 1989, he won the Wanjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Through his winning piece, Dulgubarra, Rainforest Dwellers, Anning said he hoped to create awareness of the rainforest people who, like his grandfathers, once lived and roamed beneath the dark green rainforest canopy of the Atherton Tablelands.
The shields are cut from the large spreading roots of the softwood fig tree, while swords, firesticks and smaller artefacts are cut from the branches. They are carved by hand over time and then decorative designs are incised and painted on with ground earth ochres and charcoal. The totemic designs represent aspects from traditional life including lightning bolts, boomerang and shell patterns, and fish net, snake and water skater motifs. They are thought to provide protective powers. These shields and swords required much strength and skill to wield, both in the ritualized combat of ceremony and in real tribal battles, sometimes left stained with blood to increase the warrior’s standing. Anning provides continuity with his cultural history, the red ochre dots that adorn his swords, he says, paying tribute to blood spilled more recently when his people were displaced from the rainforests.
Anning’s unique sculptural carvings have appeared in exhibitions in Australia and overseas. He is represented in numerous public and private collections.
REFERENCES
https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au
Biographies at www.daaao.org.au
artists at cairnsartgallery.com.au