The first mosquito was originally a man living near the Mann River with his family, all of whom were swallowed by the Rainbow Serpent. Only he escaped by transforming himself into a mosquito and flying away. When he was a long way from his homeland he changed back into a man and wandered westwards until …
Bew-Bew the Giant of the Dreamtime lived in a mud and stick home adjacent to the mudflats of north Goulburn Island. He had built his house in the shape of a cone, with no doors or windows, but a hole at the top. Entry was by a bush rope ladder. When he lit a fire …
The Jakamarra ancestors of the Warlpiri tribe have lived since the beginning of time at a place called Yirlkirdi in the western desert of Central Australia. Early in this century, however, their vast lands were leased to a pastoralist and renamed Mt. Singleton. Cast out from their homeland and forced to wander over the desert …
Images of Lightning Spirits can be found throughout Arnhem Land in caves and on rock surfaces. Some of these are sacred but can be viewed by outsiders, while others are both sacred and secret and cannot be seen by the uninitiated. The sacred site of Namarrkon, the Lightning Spirit for the Kunwinjku people living at …
Aboriginal people believe that Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, created many sacred sites in Arnhem Land, including a large billabong near the artist’s camp high up in the Stone Country between Oenpelli and Maningrida, where he is supposed to rest in the dry season. Characteristics of Ngalyod vary from group to group and also depend on …
Towering into the sky and dominating the surrounding country, Nimbuwah is an outlier near the western Arnhem Land escarpment. Nimbuwah is a sacred site for the Kunwinjku people. In the time of nayubyungki, the First People, a tall young man named Nimbuwah came from the south, near Pine Creek, bringing with him Gularrmundidj, his widowed …
It is only recently that details of the Tingari Ancestral Beings have been revealed to outsiders, and even then many secret and sacred song and dance cycles were forbidden to be disclosed. At one time it was thought that the ceremony was for men only, but women now claim that they play a part in …
In the Dreamtime an Ancestral Being called Yingana came from Macassar across the sea to the shores of Western Arnhem Land, bearing in her body many strange creatures, half human, half/animal, bird, fish or reptile, which she deposited at various places as she wandered over the country. She had the ability, as had all Ancestral …
In the Dreamtime a man called Djanggawul, guided by the Morning Star, set out in a canoe with his two women (the trio is collectively called the Djan’kawu) and his pet goanna Djanda to cross the sea from Bralgu, the mystical Island of Spirits, to the shores of north eastern Arnhem Land. They intended to …
In the Dreamtime a group of Pintubi men went out hunting. They made camp near the secret cave site of Mitukatjirri, south-east of Kintore in the Western Desert. In the far distance they could see another camp fire and knew the people were not of their own skin group. So they sent a messenger over …
Aboriginal Fine Arts Gallery is a founding member of the Australian Indigenous Art Trade Association, which was established to promote the ethical trade of indigenous art.
May – Oct (Dry Season)
Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 4:30pm
Saturday: 9.30am – 2:30pm
Sunday: 10am – 2:30pm
Nov – April (Wet Season)
Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 4.00pm
Saturday: 10.00am – 2:00pm
Sunday: Closed
