Bob Burruwal and Lena Yarinkura

Lena Yarinkura

Lena Yarinkura is a Kune woman from Buluhkaduru in Maningrida, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. In the mid-1990s Yarinkura pioneered a new school of fibre sculpture, adapting the techniques she learnt from her mother, Lena Djamarrayku, to construct sculptural work. In recent years, Yarinkura has connected elements of her practice to realise large and complex multimedia installations that contain characters and events drawn from the cultural knowledge and stories shared between her and her husband.

Yarinkura was one of the first women in the Maningrida region to work on bark painting but soon began to adapting techniques she had learnt from her mother Lena Djamarrayku to constructing sculptural
works depicting her dgangu,1 including Yawk yawk (female water spirit). [1]

[1] Dgangu is Kune language. Djang is the term used by most of the language groups to the west of Arnhem Land; wangarr is the term in Burarra and Yolngu languages to the east. There is no word in English that conveys the complex concept of djang/ wangarr, which is sometimes improperly called Dreaming.

Bob Burruwal

Bob Burruwal, a Rembarrnga man from Bolkjam, born in 1952, is a senior ceremonial leader and song man. He and Lena Yarinkura have led the innovation in fibre art in Arnhem Land, which has received local and international critical acclaim for the better part of three decades. Common subjects of his work include the Wurlga and Wurum (fish-increasing) and Namorrorddo (malevolent shooting star) spirits. Since the early 1990s, his practice has extended into installation, creating scenes from stories handed down to him. When creating major installations with Lena Yarinkura, narrative is a key feature of his work.

Yolanda Rostron

Yolanda Rostron is a Rembarrnga woman from the Balngarra clan. She grew up at Bolkdjam, an outstation near Maningrida community, and later moved to Ankabarrbirri outstation, where she lives today. From an early age she helped her artist parents, Lena Yarinkura and Bob Burruwal, to harvest materials and watched them create sculptures and bark paintings. In her own practice, Rostron depicts a range of figures, including yawkyawk (female water spirit), wurum (fish-increasing spirit), djamo (dog) and djurn (black-nosed python), interpreting the stories passed down to her as well as developing her own identity as a fibre artist. Recently her daughter Philomena Kelly also began learning techniques from her mother and grandparents, visible in her expressive sculptural animals and spirit beings as well as dart (bark painting).

Ngalbenbe (The Sun Story) is an installation created by Lena Yarinkura and her daughter Yolanda Rostron which depicts an important ancestral activity in the cosmology of the Kune and Rembarrnga people of Arnhem Land. The sculptures within the installation are made from pandanus, paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia), feathers, rocks, sand, earth pigments and natural dyes. This work tells the story of Ngalbenbe (the sun) and the journey of three fishermen who head out to fish with their walabi (butterfly fish trap). Many stories like this inform behaviour and define knowledge and values, as Yarinkura explains:

Ngalbenbe is the sun. Beyond Ngalbenbe is another larger star, the mother of Ngalbenbe. Each morning Ngalbenbe rises through the sky and sets at night.

‘I am tired. Can I rest for just one day and you will rise?’ Ngalbenbe asks.

Ngalbenbe is the sun. Beyond Ngalbenbe is another larger star, the mother of Ngalbenbe. Each morning Ngalbenbe rises through the sky and sets at night.

‘I am tired. Can I rest for just one day and you will rise?’ Ngalbenbe asks.

‘No, I am too powerful, I cannot shine: if I rise, everything will die,’ says Ngalbenbe’s mother.[i]

Korokko (long ago), three bininj (men), Kodjok, Bulanj and Kamarrang, went hunting for djenj(fish). Bulanj and Kodjok are custodians for Ngalbenbe, and Kamarrang is djungkay (manager).They had a walabi (butterfly fish trap), but they struggled to hold it in the water because the river was too high. They appealed to Ngalbenbe and made a fire, a really hot fire, which made the sun shine brightly. The water level dropped and the hunters could place the fish trap in the river. They told everyone, ‘The water is dry now, we can go hunting for fish.’

In the past, people made kunkarlewobe (stick fence fish trap) at a place called Kukadjdjerre. There’s a little fish there called ngadjbel (mouth almighty) that would travel far up the river and bring back all the larger fish: bilmu (barramundi), barrhmanj (saratoga) and bikkurr (catfish). When there were no fish, people would do a painting of ngadjbel on a tree behind the fence, leave it overnight, and the next morning there would be plenty of fish. As custodians for Kukadjdjerre, wurum (fish-increasing spirits) look after the area and also call out for fish when people ask.

After a big catch, everyone would celebrate together. People sent mak(message stick) to spread the word. Singers and mako (didgeridoo) men would travel for the celebrations. That’s what they do when they tell people, they share bunggul (dance). Sharing fish and dancing together. We dance Karrh (Spider) and Manwodberr (Cocky apple). The songlines for Karrh and Ngalbenbe are together, they are family.[ii]

[i]Lena Yarinkura, 2018, personal communication to Michelle Culpitt.

[ii]Lena Yarinkura, 2020, personal communication to Chloe Gibbon.