Literature in our Collection
(A-L)

Hutcherson, Gillian: Gong-Wapitja, Women and Art from Yirrkala, Northeast Arnhem Land, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra 1998, ISBN 0855753153

Table of Contents        ¦         Cover Text        ¦         Book Review

Table of Contents

Foreword -vii-

Acknowledgements -ix-

Orthography -xi-

Maps -xii

Introduction -1-

1 Weaving -9-

2 Carving -19-

3 Painting I: Creators of Land -25-

4 Painting II: Givers of Life -41-

5 Painting III: Makers of Law -51-

6 New Ways -67-

7 Both Ways -79-

8 Balance -95-

Notes -108-

Bibiography -111-

Photographers -112-

Index of Artists -113-

Cover Text

Contemporary women artists of the Yirrkala community in Northeast Arnhem Land create a wide variety of art and craft, from feathered string for ceremonies to large-scale murals for public buildings. Their works are represented in many public and private collections. The gon-wapitja or digging stick represents the role of women and their konwledge of and relationship to the land. It also stands for the sacred digging sticks carried by the Djan'kawu Sisters, the ancestral creators who used them to give life to all things in the world.