Namarrkon the Lightning Spirit
Namarden or Namarrkon are Eastern Kunwinjku are names for the Lightning Spirit. This entity, which is responsible for lightning and thunder, is painted on both stone and bark in a form described as ‘like a grasshopper’.
Namarrkon is said to have made Ngaldjurr (Leichardt’s or the spectacular grasshopper). The species emerges, mates and is most active and visible in the season known as Kunemeleng, between October and December when there are intense electrical storms. Ngaldjurr is then said to be ‘looking for’ Namarrkon.
Namarrkon makes lightning and thunder by striking out with kurlbburru (stone axes) which protrude from its joints. Today, the Kuninjku will not leave axes lying out in the open during an electrical storm as the axes act as an attraction to the destructive force of Namarrkon. The lines emanating from Namarrkon’s head are said to be mardno or lightning bolts of power.
- Stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetradonta) with Ochre Pigment and PVA Fixative
- Dimensions: 125 x 60cm
- Cat No. 566-24
Kuninjku artist Paul Nabulumo is a painter and sculptor. He is the son of acclaimed artist, Mick Kubarkku (1925 – 2008), who was known for his painting of dirdbim (moon, sun and stars) and the associated site on his Kulmarru clan estate. Nabulumo learned under his guidance, watching him paint on rock surfaces and bark paintings as a young man.
The artist continues to paint the iconic imagery handed down from his father, including Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent), mimih (rock country spirit), yawkyawk (female water spirits), Kubumi (waterholes) and djulng (Ancestral bones). Nabulumo maintains strong connection to his heritage, living and working at Yikkarrakkal Outstation which sits adjacent to the dirdbim and kubumi djang (Ancestral) sites . However, he has developed his own distinct aesthetic, characterised by striking combinations of fine and elegant rarrk, figurative elements and bold negative space. Nabulumo began exhibiting in 2000, participating in his first group show at Aboriginal Art & Pacific (Sydney).
Maningrida Arts & Culture is a pre-eminent site of contemporary cultural expression and art-making, abundant with highly collectable art and emerging talent. Through their homelands resource organisation, Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, artists turned an art trade that began just over 50 years ago into a multi-million dollar arts and cultural enterprise.
Maningrida Arts & Culture supported hundreds of artists on their homelands, more than 20 artworkers, held 20 exhibitions annually, won prestigious awards, and enjoyed the international fame and success that the boom in the Aboriginal art market of the 1990s and 2000s enabled.
Acclaimed senior artists including John Mawurndjul, brothers Owen Yalandja and Crusoe Kurddal, Bob Burruwal, Lena Yarinkura and Laurie Marbaduk continue to expand their mediums and narratives. Artists such as Paul Nabulumo, Samson Bonson, Anniebelle Marrngamarrnga, Samuel Namundja, Kay Lindjuwanga and Fiona Jin-majinggal have emerged to become a formidable force in the national and international landscape. They sit alongside the leading proponents of a fibre sculpture movement. Frewa Bardaluna, Helen Stewart, Vera Cameron, Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja, Freda Wayartja Ali, Bonnie Burarn.garra and Doreen Jinggarrabarra are a group of mostly female artists who reinterpret functional forms using natural fibres to create highly sought-after pieces across the fine art and interior design sectors.
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