RISING: Shadow Spirit

Kubumi

The spirit ecologies of Kubumi waterhole are expansive and ebb and flow with the waters of Maningrida. The water landscapes surrounding Maningrida consist of freshwater creeks and flood plains and the bountiful saltwater ocean of the Arafura coast and in these waters are Ancestor spirits and animals that live together. Kuninjku fibre artists and sisters Anniebell Marrngamarrnga and Dorothy Bunibuni have woven large scale artworks from handpicked fibres that feature Ngalkunburriyaymi Yawkyawk (Freshwater Mermaid) and Kumuken (Freshwater Crocodile) and Nawarlah (Brown River stingray) that swim above us.

Below in three dimensional form are elongated Mimih spirit figures that hide between the rocks on land and Yawkyawk that sometimes walk on land by artist Ken Ngindjalakku Djungkidj. Further to the immersive waterscape is the painting of Kubumi by Paul Nabulumo Namarinjmak which embeds the eternal energy of this country into the installation. Through the collective ‘s work of Kubumi we can connect to the land, animal and spirit ecologies that hold deep layers of history and time and continue to flow to this day in Maningrida country.