Over countless generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people developed an intricate understanding of their Country’s unique environments and ideal ecological balance. Intertwined with cultural knowledge and ceremonial practice, this insight is embedded into societal systems, wherein totemic relationships of responsibility to flora and fauna ensure ongoing land management and sustainability.
‘Crafted from Country’ is the second of four blogs that celebrate the interconnected relationships between plants, people and Country in the exhibition ‘Seeds and Sovereignty’ at the Gallery of Modern Art until 18 August 2024.
Crafted from Country
Kin-centric or totemic relationships of responsibility to plants weave theology and ecology throughout all aspects of life, expressed in ritual and ceremony, as well as harvesting and food preparation. Artists from around the country demonstrate these connections through stunning works that highlight the functional and ritual uses of botanical resources.
Mitjili Napurrula ‘Uwalki’ 2002
Mitjili Napurrula’s Uwalki 2002 (illustrated) imparts Dreaming stories of spear-making trees alongside Elizabeth Djuttara’s Wanydjalpi (Yam sculpture) 2004 (illustrated) and Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Yam Dreaming paintings of 1995 (illustrated), which honour an integral food source across many regions of the country.
Elizabeth Djuttara ‘Wanydjalpi (Yam sculpture)’ 2004
Emily Kame Kngwarreye ‘Yam dreaming’ 1995
An array of Banumbirr (Morning Star poles) (Malu Gurruwiwi’s Banumbirr (Morning Star pole) 1998 illustrated) join these works in their celebration of this plant. Central to rituals of cosmological and ecological importance celebrated annually in eastern Arnhem Land these highly decorated feathered poles are emblematic of the yam, the stringed adornments signifying the mother vine with its leaves and tendrils.2
Malu Gurruwiwi ‘Banumbirr (Morning Star pole)’ 1998
Sophia Nampitjimpa Sambono ( Jingili) is Associate Curator, Indigenous Australian Art, QAGOMA
This text is adapted from an essay first published in QAGOMA’s Members’ magazine, Artlines
‘Seeds and Sovereignty’ / Gallery 3.5, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) / 2 March – 18 August 2024
Endnote
2 Diane Moon, ‘Banumbirr: The brightest star’, in Floating Life: Contemporary Aboriginal Fibre Art [exhibition catalogue], QAGOMA, Brisbane, Qld, 2009, p.65.
Acknowledgment of Country
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Gallery stands in Brisbane. We pay respect to Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islander peoples, and Elders past and present. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the immense creative contribution First Australians, as the first visual artists and storytellers, make to the art and culture of this country.
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