Original Artwork from a Community-Run, Not-for-Profit Art Centre, Complete with a Certificate of Authenticity Issued by Them.
Ethical Art Made Easy
Fast & Free Delivery
120-Day Easy Returns (Not That You’ll Need Them)
Colour-Corrected Images (What You See Is What You Get)
In Burarra and Gun-nartpa languages the figure represented in this artwork is generally known as a wangarra ‘ghost spirit’. For the Warrawarra clan ghost spirits have their own particular characteristics and their own name – Warraburnburn.
The Warraburnburn and the closely related Galabarrbarr spirit (owned by the Balkarranga clan) are also manikay song topics. The spirits are related to each other as maternal grandparent and grandchild, just as the people of Warrawarra and Balkarranga are. The dancing of the two ghost spirit figures forms the finale performance for funerals, and is the final goodbye to a deceased family member.
In many ways the Warraburnburn and Galabarrbarr ghost spirits are like people. They emerge from the patches of jungle on Warrawarra and Balkarranga country in the late afternoon and go hunting in family groups of men, women and children. They stay in contact with each other by calling out as the men hunt for fish and the women walk with their dillybags looking for vegetable food.
The ghost spirits are associated closely with white ochre and artists commonly paint the bodies of carved figures in white. Different types of ghost spirit wear different patterns. Warraburnburn is decorated with uniform white dots while others are painted white all over. Some ghost spirits are shown with a design painted on their chest infilled with rarrk ‘cross-hatching’, the same designs that are painted onto japi an-guyinda ‘male initiations’.
They also have supernatural characteristics including superhuman size (jarra anbaykarda ‘super tall’). They know the country intimately – some are malevolent towards humans and will lead people astray, taking them to unfamiliar and dangerous places. These malevolent spirits are likened to an-muburda ‘sorcerers’ and can conduct dangerous rituals that cause harm to people. Others are benign and will lead humans back to familiar paths and their own camps.
Matilda Pascoe is a sculptor and bark painter and member of the Warrawarra clan whose lands lie on Burarra country to the east of the Blyth River. She depicts spirit beings, plants and animals for which she is custodian (Traditional Owner), including Warraburnburn (‘ghost’sds spirit), baru (crocodile), jarlambu (catfish), gorraporda (cormorant) and banaka (digging stick). She is most renowned for her bold, large-scale, warraburburn carvings, a ‘supertall’ jarra an-baykarda ‘ghost’ figure that lives in patches of jungle surrounding her homeland Gamurra Gu-yurra. She learned under the guidance of her late husband Jimmy An-gunguna, an important bark painter and sculptor whose works were included in Metamorphosis at the Venice Biennale in 1997.
An art movement that is striking, political and enduring: this is what contemporary artists in Maningrida and the surrounding homelands have built, powered by their ancestral connections to country and djang.
Ways of learning and schools of art in Arnhem Land are based around a system of passing knowledge and information on to others. The art here has its genesis in body design, rock art and cultural practices, in concert with more than 50 years of collaborations, travel and political action to retain ownership of country. Values and law are expressed through language, imagery, manikay (song), bunggul (dance), doloppo bim (bark painting), sculptures, and kun-madj (weaving) – the arts.
The artists’ transformation of djang into contemporary artistic expression has intrigued people around the world: art curators and collectors, and stars including Yoko Ono, Jane Campion, David Attenborough and Elton John. Pablo Picasso said of Yirawala’s paintings, ‘This is what I’ve been trying to achieve all my life.’
Yirawala (c.1897–1976) was a legendary Kuninjku leader, artist, land-rights activist and teacher, and his artwork was the first of any Indigenous artist to be collected by the National Gallery of Australia as part of a policy to represent in depth the most significant figures in Australian art.
Maningrida Arts & Culture is based on Kunibídji country in Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory. The area where artists live encompasses 7,000 square kilometres of land and sea, and over 100 clan estates, where people speak more than 12 distinct languages. Aboriginal people in this region are still on country, surviving and resilient because their country is the centre of their epistemology, their belief system, culture – djang.
Artists’ works from the larger Maningrida region can be seen in collections and institutions around the world. We work with museums, contemporary galleries and high-end retailers both nationally and internationally on projects throughout the year.
Text courtesy: Maningrida Arts and Culture
Warm your home with beautiful Aboriginal art from the world’s oldest living culture. When you purchase, you support the artist and their community art centre. Your artwork will arrive exactly as shown, colour-accurate, carefully packed, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from a community-based art centre. Enjoy free insured delivery and a 120-day return policy for a seamless, confident, and ethical buying experience.
Only certificates from community-based Aboriginal art centres guarantee ethical sourcing. Every ART ARK® piece includes this important documentation. Learn more about Aboriginal Art Authenticity.
We love our artworks, and we think you will too! However, if for any reason you are not 100% satisfied in any way with your artwork then you can return it within 120 days of receipt for a full refund. Learn more about Delivery and Returns.
To keep pricing transparent, we deliver artworks as they come to us—unframed and priced in accordance with each art centre. Canvas and linen pieces are rolled for easy re-stretching at your local framer. Bark paintings and smaller items from our Stretched Desert Paintings collection arrive ready to hang. Watercolours should be framed behind glass, either custom or pre-made. Learn more about Framing Aboriginal Art.
Our customers love our fast deliveries, the accuracy of our images, and our ethical business model. See our Customer Reviews to learn more.
We’re flexible and want to support you as you support the artists. Traditional layby is available—simply pay a 20% deposit at checkout using code LAYBY20, and we’ll send you an invoice for the remaining balance within 24 hours. You can then make payments as you wish over 2 months, and we’ll reconcile the total before sending your artwork.
Shipping from Launceston, Tasmania (Lutruwita), to your doorstep, wherever you are. Domestic deliveries are free. For international orders under $500 AUD, a $30 AUD postage fee applies; otherwise, shipping is also free. Helpful Customs Links.
Please note: International duties and taxes may vary depending on your country. Original artworks, classified under tariff 970191(0000), are duty-free in the United States and Canada. The UK applies a reduced VAT of 5%, France 5.5%, and Germany 7%. In many other countries, duties can be higher so please check. We recommend keeping this in mind when making a purchase.