Bunjil and Waang 2005

NICHOLSON, Mandy (Wurundjeri-willam)

Registration number

1612136

Artist/maker

NICHOLSON, Mandy (Wurundjeri-willam)

Title

Bunjil and Waang

Production date

2005

Medium

kangaroo skin, synthetic polymer paint

Dimensions (H x W x D)

153 x 87 cm (variable)

Inscriptions

handwritten: M Nicholson '05

Credit line

City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection

Keywords

Mandy Nicholson, Wurundjeri-willam, Bunjil and Waang, 2005, kangaroo skin

Summary

In this work, Mandy Nicholson summons the traditional practice of cloak-making. Like possum skins, kangaroo skins were once used for cloaks, either singly or stitched together, made for the primary purposes of warmth and ceremony. Ceremonial cloaks would carry incised totemic designs, among other identifying marks, on the pelt’s underside. In Nicholson’s assertion of this cultural tradition, she has used bold acrylic paints to relate the presence and power of Wurundjeri ancestral beings Bunjil (Bundjil), the wedge-tailed eagle and creator spirit, and Waang (Waa) the crow and protector.