• 10. Djómi
  • 10. Djómi

Joy Garlbin

10. Djómi

  

"There are two Dreaming ladies at Bábbarra billabong – Djómi and Bábbarra. These two are sisters: one freshwater ‘mermaid’ and one saltwater one. Big long head, big stomach and very skinny legs that Bábbarra.

Their mother is the crocodile who lives in the Bábbarra billabong. Both sisters will give people babies through the drinking water at Bábbarra. That’s why men stay away and Bábbarra is a sacred women’s site. Too strong our Dreaming – even men can get that baby in their tummies!"

~ Lena Djabibba, djungkay (mother’s country and ceremonial manager of Bábbarra) and Joy Garlbin (landowner for Bábbarra). Text courtesy of Bábbarra Women's Centre.

  • Ochre and Ink on Arches Paper
  • Dimensions: 50 x 34cm (unframed)
  • Cat No. 1890-24


Joy Garlbin is a Kunibidji and Kuninjku artist whose work prodominately features the Djomi djang site. She started to make mimih spirit figures under the apprenticeship of Crusoe Kurddal in the 2000s. Exhibiting since 2004, her work is also held in the Queensland Gallery of Art. She is a Traditional Owner of the Maningrida township and been highly politically active in protecting her country.


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. 

We pack all artworks securely to protect during shipping. Items valued over $100 are insured for damage during transit. Artworks less then one metre are generally sent insured via Australia Post, unless they are particularly fragile. Artworks longer than one metre are sent via Pack n Send.