Summary
This painting depicts reef fish with the coral reef represented by a band of rarrk or crosshatching. The fish at the top is milika, a catfish or butterfish or "diamond" fish and the small black tailed fish is gukuwal, a "Ring-tailed Surgeon". Both have a poisonous spike near the tail that is dangerous if it penetrates the skin. The large fish is called rrayaka and is "friendly" with gukuwal. It is a segment of a larger epic story relating to the ancestral homeland of the artist's clan, a place called Malwandra.
Physical Description
A single sheet of bark (Stringybark, Eucalytpus tetrodonta) painted with natural pigments.
More Information
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Object/Medium
Painting, bark
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Maker
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Cultural Groups
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Locality
Milingimbi, Eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
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Date Produced
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Collector
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Date Collected
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Object Measurements
695 mm (Length), 485 mm (Width), 105 mm (Height)
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Keywords
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Collection Names
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Type of item
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Discipline
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Category
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Collecting Areas
Australian Indigenous - Northern Australia and Queensland and Torres Strait Islands