Jubilee exhibition of Australian art

ABORIGINAL ART *6 A S P I R I T BEING BARK P A I N T I N G By a Kakadu Artist. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. National Museum o f Victoria. * I T WO SP I R I TS O F T H E GE IMB I O COUNT RY J This harlequin-like figure, decorated with stylised markings, is typical o f m a n y drawings o f spirit By a Kakadu Artist. beings found i n t h e Oenpelli country. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. National Museum o f Victoria. Such spirits a r e said to live in holes i n t h e ground o r i n b a n y a n trees a n d to go o u t during t h e d a y to d a n c e a b o u t u n d e r t h e tree graves. 7 A SP I R I T BEING By a Kakadu Artist. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. 2 NANGI TAIN—A S P I R I T O F T H E GE IMB I O COUNTRY National Museum o f Victoria. Possibly by the same artist as above. A to each h a n d—a n anomaly occasionally found a mo n g t h e aborigines themselves. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. figure similar to t h e above, a n d , like it, showing t h e backbone. I t has a t h u m b a n d five fingers National Museum o f Victoria. Nangitain is a mischievous spirit w h o tries t o lure a w a y t h e Iwaiyu o r spirit p a r t o f boys a n d young men. 8 HUNT I NG SCENE 3 A S P I R I T CALLED AUNENAU By the Artist Mauwunboi. Collected by R . a n d C. Berndt in N.E. Arnhem Land, 1946-7. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. Department o f Anthropology, University o f Sydney. N a t i o n a l M u s e u m o f V i c t o r i a . I n the centre a ma l e kangaroo sleeps u n d e r t h e shade o f a p a l m ; about him, female kangaroos keep Possibly by the same artist as above. watch until it is their t u r n to sleep a n d b e guarded b y t h e male. K a n g a r o o tracks along t h e lower This bony, fleshless spirit, covered with bristly h a i r called ipimp has a long spike which hangs from edge o f the b a r k balance those o f emus a t the u p p e r left a n d right. Emu s to the left a r e feeding o n the t h e neck a n d c a n b e raised a n d m a d e t o rattle. F r o m t h e pelvis a similar projection represents flUt5 o f the dalpi palm. Between the tree where t h e kangaroo sleeps a n d t h e right edge o f t h e painting t h e lightning, which t h e aborigines see o n t h e hilltops when the A u n e n a u is wandering b y night a spider has slung its web, a n d dispersed throughout t h e design a r e short-tailed goannas, wagtails, i n search o f d e a d m e n whose flesh h e eats. T h e crossed lines ending in knobs which project from his pigeons a n d yams. loints a r e t h e bones h e has taken from bodies a n d fastened to himself. 4 MAN SPEARING A KANGAROO 9 T H E T RACK O F T H E MYTH I CAL GOANNA, TJUNDU By a Kakadu Artist. Artist unknown. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. Collected by C. P. Mountford a t Yirrkalla, 1948. National Museum o f Victoria. Department o f the Interior (News a n d Information Bureau). T h e kangaroo is a special a n d rare black type k n own as Madjiborla' which inhabits the ranges o f t h e A meandering line represents t h e m a r k o f T j u n d u ' s tail, a n d a herringbone pattern, t h e sand that Oenpelli country. T h e aborigine, as i n most drawings o f this kind, is shown as being m u c h smaller runs d own t h e slope as h e walks along t h e crest o f a drifting sandhill. t h a n t h e significant figure t h e kangaroo. 5 BUBBA PE IBU W I T H A HAUL O F FISH By a Kakadu Artist. 10 HUNT I NG AND F I SH I NG SCENE National Museum o f Victoria. Collected by C. P. Mountford a t Yirrkalla, 1948. Collected by Sir Baldwin Spencer a t Oenpelli, 1913. 1 Artist unknown. This drawing, probably t h e aboriginal equivalent o f a nursery r h yme illustration, represents a story Department o f the Interior (News a n d Information Bureau). o f a mythical person, B u b b a Peibu, a very short, stout being supposed to b e only a b o u t two feet six I n the lower right-hand panel a r e two fishermen i n a canoe, with fish clubs i n their hands. Below inches tall, w h o goes a t night with spear and b a g i n saerch o f fish. As h e walks through the w a t e r t h em a r e porpoises. I n t h e u p p e r right is a canoe pulled u p o n the beach. I n the left panels are (sometimes, as here, dragging t h e fish behind h i m threaded through their gills to a long stick) h e dugongs. T h e cross-hatched areas indicate rough water. c a n b e h e a r d talking to himself, saying 'Bi, Brr, Bi, Brr, with a long roll o n t h e Y. 22 1 23