• Bolung (Rainbow Serpent)
  • Bolung (Rainbow Serpent)
  • Bolung (Rainbow Serpent)

Jay Jurrupula Rostron

Bolung (Rainbow Serpent)


Regular price   

Bolung (Rainbow Serpent) 2022 is from the sacred country of Dukala- Djarranj. This is the country of the artist's grandparent and a place of great significance, as Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent, travelled through the landscape. Rock art in the area depicts a rotund Bolung. Bolung is a Kune word.

    • Fibre-tipped pen on paper
    • Dimensions: 85cm x 65cm
    • Cat No. 1462-22


Belinj Jay is a Kune, Dalabon and Rembarrngga woman from the Barappa clan. For Kune people, like many others across Arnhem Land, the world is divided into two moieties: Duwa and Yirridjdja. These moieties are woven into the kinship system guiding a person’s relationships and responsibilities to their family and the environment. Every tree, animal, bird, and body of water can be identified as either Duwa or Yirridjdja and this moiety system extends to stories, songlines and dreaming.

Jay is a talented Maningrida artist who works with detailed linocut fabric, drawing and screen print at Babbarra Designs. Her work is exciting and portrays the ancestral stories of Namurre Boko (two brothers story) and Modjarrkki in her work. She loves to illustrate the plants and animals that live in the freshwater country around her fathers homeland of Korlobidahdah, Arnhem Land.

Jay has worked with a range of mediums including etching, linocut prints, Stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetradonta) with Ochre Pigment and PVA Fixative, Pandanus Coiled Basket, Pandanus Dilly Bag, Pandanus Sculpture, Seed Jewellery.


Bábbarra Women’s Centre works with women who from more than 12 language groups in the Maningrida region who come together to share knowledge and ideas. The group's main social enterprise, Bábbarra Designs, has been going strong since 1989, designing and hand-printed exquisite textiles that are sold around the world. Each length of fabric is unique and tells the ancestral stories of Arnhem Land country and cultures. "People tell us our designs are bold and elegant, but for us they are more than designs: these designs tell the stories of our lives. They bring a lot of joy to everyone – to us, our families and our customers alike. Working creatively with Bábbarra Designs is a way for us to achieve financial independence, for our community and the next generations."


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Items purchased online that are part of an exhibition will be shipped at the end of the exhibition period.