Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery is delighted to present Goŋ-Wapitja – the hand that holds the digging stick, an exhibition by Yolŋu artist Yalmakany Marawili.
Exhibition Dates: 31 January – 1 March 2025
“The beliefs woven into the title are very precious. The word Goŋ-Wapitja (goŋ:hand; wapitja: digging stick) has many layers of meaning.
It is the digging stick women use to dig up the plants for food, so it represents women and their role. The digging stick tells us about women who know how to recognise plants -which are good, which are poisonous- and who are carrying out tasks of educating children about recognising edible plants. Built into this concept is our relationship to the land; our role as providers of food; as teachers; as healers with knowledge about bush medicines; and our role as nurturers and child-bearers.”
Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr, Banbapuy Ganambarr, Banduk Marika, Raymattja Marika, Yalmay Marika, Ŋalawurr Munuŋgurr [1]
Yalmakany’s mother was an adult before she experienced industrial society. She lived in a world where all food, medicine, housing materials, tools, clothing, art materials and any other necessary supplies were available from nature. Unlike the supermarket or the pharmacy of today none of these items were labelled. Neither was there any text or book or writing of any kind to provide a key to the location of these things. Instead the knowledge of where these things can be found has been held through countless generations by those whose hands hold the digging stick- Yolŋu women.
If you take a little while to think about that you can appreciate the compulsion behind this exhibition. Yalmakany’s mother witnessed the corralling of Yolŋu into sedentary settlements where the Mission doled out a diet of flour, sugar, tea and tobacco. All unhealthy but addictive fare which guaranteed that the Yolŋu were locked into the Christian project.
Her mother has gone but the imperative to celebrate and renew this knowledge has not.
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[1] p. vii Gong- Wapitja Women and Art from Yirrkala, Gillian Hutcherson Aboriginal Studies Press 1998
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