Bol’ngu

Djutjadjutja is senior leader among the large Djapu clan. He has painted the freshwater of Wandawuy and its source. Mythology about the ancestral being Bol’ngu is shared with several other Dhuwa clan groups connected by song and dance. This manikay, or ritual song, refers to wind and rain directed by Bol’ngu. The direction comes from the spear held sprung above his head and pointed towards Wandawuy. Here, from the sky’s torrential rain, he left his mark as a white gum tree at a permanent billabong. Bol’ngu has been painted above the freshwater systems and subterranean flow at Wandawuy. The rainbow shape at the top of the work represents the ‘different’ layers of water within this system. It imitates the shape of the spear and represents, in part, the billabong where the white gum can be found © Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory