Yukuwa (Hollow Log) - Djirrirra Wunungmurra

Yukuwa is one of the personal names of the artist Djirrira Wunungmurra. Almost a self-portrait, this work was made just after her 2012 Best Bark-winning painting at the Telstra National Aboriginal and TSI Art Awards.

This piece refers to a renewal ceremony for Yirritja moiety clans. Yukuwa is a yam whose annual reappearance is a metaphor for the increase and renewal of the people and their land. Traditionally, the invitation to such a ceremony is presented as an object in the form of a yam with strings emanating from it with feathered flowers at the end. This is a suggestion of the kinship lines which tie groups together. The site referred to in this piece is an ancient ceremonial site in the area between Gangan and the sea.

The Larrakitj (hollow log) had its traditional use for the Yolngu of North East Arnhem Land as a bone container erected as a memorial to a dead kinsman up to a decade after death.