What is Wandjina rock art?
What is Wandjina rock art?
Wandjina is a powerful Rain Maker spirit associated with the north-west region of the Kimberley in Western Australia. Wandjina images are painted on the rock galleries and in caves throughout the region, marked in red and white ochre.
What is a Wandjina figure?
The Wandjina, also written Wanjina and Wondjina and also known as Gulingi, are cloud and rain spirits from Australian Aboriginal mythology that are depicted prominently in rock art in Australia. Some of the artwork in the Kimberley region of Western Australia dates back to approximately 4,000 years ago.
Who painted the Wandjina?
Vesna Tenodi
For more than a decade, New South Wales-based artist Vesna Tenodi has been painting the Wandjina, the supreme spirit ancestors of the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbal tribes, who make up the Mowanjum community outside Derby, 2,400km north of Perth.
How do you pronounce Wandjina?
- Phonetic spelling of Wandjina. wand-ji-na. Wan-yee-na. Wand-jina.
- Meanings for Wandjina.
- Translations of Wandjina. Russian : Вонджины
How do you pronounce wandjina?
Who is allowed to paint the wandjina?
We were given Wandjina to look after this particular country and it belongs to only the three tribes. Therefore it is only the people who are Ngarinyin, Worrorra or Wunumbal who can paint Wandjinas.
What do circles mean in Aboriginal art?
A circle or a set of concentric circles usually signify places where people come together. They can represent a meeting place, fireplace, campsite, a waterhole or a ceremonial site.
What do turtles mean in Aboriginal art?
Turtles are a favoured food source for Indigenous communities and therefore appear as totems and in Dreamtime stories and Creation myths. Indigenous people respect the food resources that sustain them and they celebrate the turtle in rituals that aim to increase the bounty of the species.
What does the snake mean in Aboriginal art?
Snakes are indigenous to all parts of Australia and feature strongly in the Creation stories held by Aboriginal people and in their paintings and carvings. The snake has been used as a symbol of strength, creativity and continuity since ancient times across many societies.
Why are Wandjina paintings important to Aboriginal people?
The Wandjina images are painted in significant ritual sites for Aboriginal people of the region, and the paintings were traditionally repainted each decade to ensure the image was kept fresh and lively.
How old are the wandjinas in Western Australia?
Gyorn Gyorn paintings in rock art sites have been dated at 20,000 years and are often over-painted with Wandjinas and other imagery. These figures are sometimes known as Bradshaws. In a lot of Western Australian Aboriginal languages “jina” means “feet”, and therefore some see a connection between Wandjinas and the sacred act of walking the land.
How old are the Wandjina rock art paintings?
Some attempts to date the rock paintings of Wandjina in the Kimberley suggest that they may date back 4,000 years. The Wandjina images are often painted alongside much older images of Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw figures), that date back at least 18,000 years.
Where are the Wandjina paintings in the Japingka?
Wandjina images are painted on the rock galleries and in caves throughout the region, marked in red and white ochre. The Wandjina images are painted in significant ritual sites for Aboriginal people of the region, and the paintings were traditionally repainted each decade to ensure the image was kept fresh and lively.
