Wirrul - David Brown Jangala

In this work, David Brown Jangala paints a sacred site of great cultural and spiritual importance, a place that holds not only the stories of his ancestors but also significant mineral wealth. The painting is layered with finely dotted patterns and symbolic forms that reference the site’s topography, sacred landmarks, and ancestral presence. While the surface is rich in colour and movement, the work carries a strong warning: this Country is under threat. Beneath the earth lie gold deposits that have attracted the attention of mining companies, placing immense pressure on the land and its custodians.

Brown states, “In this painting I have painted a special place, a sacred place with great spiritual value. It is also country rich in gold deposits. We need to protect this country from big mining companies who want to come to this sacred land to mine the gold. If mining companies are allowed this special country, my ancestral homeland will be destroyed. If we lose this sacred land my country men and women will get sick and sometimes we die from worry.” This painting is both a declaration of cultural sovereignty and a call to protect Country. It reminds viewers that Aboriginal land is not empty, but deeply alive with meaning, memory, and responsibility.