My Country, Djarrakpi

2018

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Summary

Paintings, together with their related songs, dances and ritual events, form an integral part of the religious life of the Yolngu people of Northeast Arnhem Land. Every painting or design is owned by a particular clan. Every painting tells of events in a clan’s Ancestral Past, when the present order of the universe was laid down and each clan was given its land, language and customs. Every painting is, in a way, a map of a particular area of clan land, and a clan’s title deed to that land.. In this film Narritjin talks about his land at Djarrakpi, one of the most important sacred sites of his Manggalili clan. The film is set in two contrasting contexts. At an exhibition of his paintings at the Australian National University in Canberra, Narritjin explains the meanings behind a bark painting of Djarrakpi; then on the windswept sand dunes of Djarrakpi itself, he explains the significance of some of the actual features of the landscape. Although Narritjin only reveals the “outside” or public meaning of his paintings, his statements indicate something of the different levels of significance upon which traditional Yolngu art operates.