Deutscher and Hackett

This work is accompanied by a certificate from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: ‘In this painting Njiminjuma has depicted a sacred site at Kurrurldul, his outstation south of Maningrida. The Rarrk, or abstract cross hatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called Djimarr. Today this being exists in the form of a rock which is permanently submerged at the bottom of Kurrurldul Creek. The imagery represents the crow in three different domains. Most simply it is the black crow wak and the ancestral form of this bird called djimarr. At the same time, the image represents the rock mentioned above, which is the final transmutation of the dreaming ancestor djimarr. Finally, the pattern used here is also the crow design used in the sacred Mardayin ceremony which is a large regional patrimoiety ceremony now rarely conducted in central and eastern Arnhem Land.’