15/05/2026
This work represents Garrimala, a billabong near the artists’ residence - the Dhaḻwaŋu clan homeland at Gäṉgaṉ in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Guruwuy’s mother Malaluba developed the structure of this design in different tones, but it was left alone for some years after her death. In 2022 Guruwuy began to paint in this genre again. Garrimala is a sacred site for her grandmother’s Gälpu clan. But this imagery really refers to perhaps the oldest continuous human religious iconographical practice - the story of the Rainbow Serpent. Estimates vary from 40,000 - 60,000 years on the depiction of the Rainbow Serpent in West Arnhem rock shelters.
Witj is the all-powerful rainbow serpent (olive python) that travelled through Gälpu clan lands during early times called Waŋarr. Djaykuŋ the Javanese file snake is a companion and possibly alternate incarnation of Witj, living in amongst the Dhatam, or waterlillies, causing ripples and rainbows (Djari) on the surface of the water.
The story of Witj is of storm and monsoon, in the ancestral past. It has particular reference to the mating of Witj during the beginning of the wet season when the Djarrwa (square shaped thundercloud) begin forming and the lightning starts striking.
Last chance to see ‘Guwarguwarmirri - Colours of the Rainbow’ this Saturday 16 May 1-4pm.
Image:
Guruwuy Murrinyina
‘Garrimala’ 2025
3293-25
Bark Painting
232 x 101 cm
