Garraparra (01.010)

2001

Australian Aboriginal, Yirrkala, born 1952

Garraparra is a peninsula within the artist's Blue Mud Bay homeland. At the center of this log is a sacred submerged rock called Galkama. It originated in freshwater before it passed through sea country and rested in the deep waters of the horizon. While the sea above it is full of choppy white caps, Galkama embodies an undisturbed site of profound, intrinsic knowledge. Garun, the loggerhead turtle, swims up from its depths carrying the signs of the rock on the surface of its shell.

The Wunumurra family has many ceremonial responsibilities that require movement across the homeland centers of northeast Arnhemland. Nawurapu follows in the footsteps of his father who was the first Aboriginal artist to have his copyright recognized in an Australian court.

Earth pigments on hollow log

84 5/8 in. (215 cm)

Gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2005.151

Provenance: [Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Arts Centre, Yirrkala, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2001

Photo by Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Sorry Business, July 30, 2001 - January 2, 2006

Published ReferencesSeattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 36, illus. p. 37

Ishikawa, Chiyo, ed., A Community of Collectors: 75th Anniversary Gifts to the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 2007, illus. p. 86

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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