Description
This is a yirritja painting showing yirritja relatives – guku (honey) and nyaŋura (long-neck turtle).
You can see four nyaŋura, and guku in the middle. The three yellow triangles are the guyuwa gulanyin, the nose of the hive, the guku wax cone. The white circle is the entrance where bees come and go. This hive lives in the trees.
The bottom panels (bottom and side ones) are to give colour. The artsist explains this is to “make it bright, make it beautiful. Yes, to give it power”.
The artist Joe Dhamanydji learned to paint this miny’tji this from his older brother Norman Mungawila, who is Tom Djäwa’s eldest son and a Gupapuyŋu Ḏaygurrgurr man. Brothers George, Michael and Joe all learned from him.
Story by Joe Dhamanydji, July 2024
