Gungura - The Spiraling Wind
Artist:
Samuel Namunjdja
(Indigenous Australian, born 1965)
Place made:Northern Territory, Australia
General region:Oceania
Place made:Northern Territory, Australia
General region:Oceania
Dimensions:
h. 27 9/16 in. (70 cm); w. 11 in. (28 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of the Lam Family
Object number: 2016.14.3
Copyright: © Samuel Namunjdja
Provenance: Sold through Maningrida Arts & Culture, Maningrida, to May Lam and Dr. Dorothy Lam; May Lam and Dr. Dorothy Lam, by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2016
Label Text
The intersecting striped planes of this bark painting represent the spiraling wind, also known as Gungura (or Wind Dreaming) to the Kuninjku language group of central Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Mini-cyclones are common during the wet season in this area and are a subject that Samuel Namunjdja explores frequently. Gungura is associated with the Creation Period site called Bilwoyinj, where two creation ancestors, a father and a son, left behind fat from a lizard (goanna) that they had eaten; the fat turned into the rock formation that stands today. Bilwoyinj is the site of the Yabbadurruwa ceremony for initiation and land ownership. As the spiraling nature of the wind suggests, this major ceremony is concerned with the cyclical regeneration of the human and the natural worlds.
Namunjdja is a leading artist, and his paintings are recognizable by his unique approach to color. Combining natural red and yellow ochres on a white underpainting, Namunjdja creates vibrant orange tones that reflect the power of nature.
(Exhibition label, 2017)
Namunjdja is a leading artist, and his paintings are recognizable by his unique approach to color. Combining natural red and yellow ochres on a white underpainting, Namunjdja creates vibrant orange tones that reflect the power of nature.
(Exhibition label, 2017)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
