inscribed verso: artist: barguluba, tribe: gunwinggu, location: mormega
This bark painting depicts Namarnkol, the small freshwater barramundi, one of the most important ancestral beings in the cosmology of Western Arnhem Land. The Namarnkol is celebrated in song, dance, and painting for its role as both a totemic species and a vital source of sustenance. Found in the billabongs, creeks, and rivers that wind through stone country, the barramundi moves between freshwater and saltwater systems, symbolising transition, abundance, and the interconnectedness of Country.
In the ancestral past, Namarnkol travelled through these waterways, shaping the landscape as it went. It is said that the barramundi’s movements carved out waterholes and streams, creating habitats for other species and defining the ecology of the region. During ceremony, its story is invoked through song and body painting, where parallel lines and shimmering crosshatching evoke the glint of light on its scales and the rippling movement of water.
