
Lamangirra #2 Gumana
Garrapara, 2024
earth pigments on stringybark
147 x 39 cm
57 7/8 x 15 3/8 in
57 7/8 x 15 3/8 in
Garrapara, or Djalma Bay, is a coastal headland bay within Blue Mud Bay, North East Arnhem Land. It is a site significant to the creation story of two ancestral hunters...
Garrapara, or Djalma Bay, is a coastal headland bay within Blue Mud Bay, North East Arnhem Land. It is a site significant to the creation story of two ancestral hunters lost their lives when their canoe capsized in a storm. They came to rest at Garrapara where there is now a sand sculpture used by in mortuary ceremony by the Mangalili, Madarrpa and Dhalwangu clans. It is also an important site where dispute was formally settled by Makarrata (a trial of ordeal by spear which settled serious grievance and sealed the peace forever). At Garrapara sacred Casuarina trees held these barbed spears whilst not in use.
Garrapara has been rendered in this painting by the wavy design for Yirritja saltwater in Blue Mud Bay called Mungurru. The Mungurru is deep water that has many states and connects with the sacred waters coming from the land estates by currents and tidal action. This sacred design shows the water of Djalma Bay chopped up by the blustery South Easterlies of the early Dry season.