# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Maningrida Arts and Crafts 1993 collection

# data[].physicalDescription
Bundle of bark fibre. 'Brachichiton; ' Natural fibre, not dyed or spun. Bundle tied with bark fibre in two places. Numerous lengths of fibre, unspecified length.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A roughly cut piece of bark. The bark is in a rectangular shape and one side is slightly darker in colour than the other.

# data[].significanceStatement
The collection comprises a tunga made by Tiwi artist Kenny Brown from Milikapiti, Melville Island. The collection also includes his associated tunga-making implements such as brushes, a container for mixing ochres, ochres and a stone for grinding the ochre.

The tunga is a type of bark container unique to the Tiwi Islands. It was the main container used on the Tiwi islands prior to the introduction of coiled baskets and string bags. As well as its utilitarian role, tungas also hold various symbolic meanings among Tiwi people. When a Tiwi person dies, a tunga is placed on a pukumani pole symbolising the end of life. Tungas are also the symbol of life in the original account of the creation story of the islands.Tungas made by contemporary Tiwi artists, such as Kenny Brown, are still made in much the same way that has been used for generations. This example provides a powerful visual representation of contemporary art practice inspired by traditional artefact.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A roughly cut piece of bark thats is square in shape. One side has some white residue on it and the other has a black dot.

# data[].significanceStatement
The collection comprises a tunga made by Tiwi artist Kenny Brown from Milikapiti, Melville Island. The collection also includes his associated tunga-making implements such as brushes, a container for mixing ochres, ochres and a stone for grinding the ochre.

The tunga is a type of bark container unique to the Tiwi Islands. It was the main container used on the Tiwi islands prior to the introduction of coiled baskets and string bags. As well as its utilitarian role, tungas also hold various symbolic meanings among Tiwi people. When a Tiwi person dies, a tunga is placed on a pukumani pole symbolising the end of life. Tungas are also the symbol of life in the original account of the creation story of the islands.Tungas made by contemporary Tiwi artists, such as Kenny Brown, are still made in much the same way that has been used for generations. This example provides a powerful visual representation of contemporary art practice inspired by traditional artefact.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A roughly cut piece of bark. The bark is rectangular in shape and has some white residue on one side.

# data[].significanceStatement
The collection comprises a tunga made by Tiwi artist Kenny Brown from Milikapiti, Melville Island. The collection also includes his associated tunga-making implements such as brushes, a container for mixing ochres, ochres and a stone for grinding the ochre.

The tunga is a type of bark container unique to the Tiwi Islands. It was the main container used on the Tiwi islands prior to the introduction of coiled baskets and string bags. As well as its utilitarian role, tungas also hold various symbolic meanings among Tiwi people. When a Tiwi person dies, a tunga is placed on a pukumani pole symbolising the end of life. Tungas are also the symbol of life in the original account of the creation story of the islands.Tungas made by contemporary Tiwi artists, such as Kenny Brown, are still made in much the same way that has been used for generations. This example provides a powerful visual representation of contemporary art practice inspired by traditional artefact.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A roughly cut piece of bark that is rectangular in shape. One side of the bark is slightly darker in colour than the other side.

# data[].significanceStatement
The collection comprises a tunga made by Tiwi artist Kenny Brown from Milikapiti, Melville Island. The collection also includes his associated tunga-making implements such as brushes, a container for mixing ochres, ochres and a stone for grinding the ochre.

The tunga is a type of bark container unique to the Tiwi Islands. It was the main container used on the Tiwi islands prior to the introduction of coiled baskets and string bags. As well as its utilitarian role, tungas also hold various symbolic meanings among Tiwi people. When a Tiwi person dies, a tunga is placed on a pukumani pole symbolising the end of life. Tungas are also the symbol of life in the original account of the creation story of the islands.Tungas made by contemporary Tiwi artists, such as Kenny Brown, are still made in much the same way that has been used for generations. This example provides a powerful visual representation of contemporary art practice inspired by traditional artefact.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A roughly cut piece of bark that is rectangular in shape. One side of the bark is slightly darker than the other. the dark side has some white residue on it.

# data[].significanceStatement
The collection comprises a tunga made by Tiwi artist Kenny Brown from Milikapiti, Melville Island. The collection also includes his associated tunga-making implements such as brushes, a container for mixing ochres, ochres and a stone for grinding the ochre.

The tunga is a type of bark container unique to the Tiwi Islands. It was the main container used on the Tiwi islands prior to the introduction of coiled baskets and string bags. As well as its utilitarian role, tungas also hold various symbolic meanings among Tiwi people. When a Tiwi person dies, a tunga is placed on a pukumani pole symbolising the end of life. Tungas are also the symbol of life in the original account of the creation story of the islands.Tungas made by contemporary Tiwi artists, such as Kenny Brown, are still made in much the same way that has been used for generations. This example provides a powerful visual representation of contemporary art practice inspired by traditional artefact.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Basket made of a malleable bark or paper bark

# data[].physicalDescription
A beige and dark brown coloured woven basket, made of a malleable bark or paper bark.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].spatial[].title
Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It depicts a seated female spirit figure with raised and bent legs and arms. There is a curved form around her head and she is seated on a rectangular shape The figure is painted in herringbone stripes of white on red ochre and with red lines with white dots. The painting has a black background.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Maningrida Arts and Crafts 26/11/1973 collection

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, in wooden box frame. Depicts 4 fish, 3 facing top of bark & 1 slightly larger facing bottom. All crosshatched with dotted fins, tails & lines on bodies. Red background, with edges infilled with white.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, metal hangers. Along bottom of bark is a band outlined in yellow & decorated with white dashes. Along top of band are 4 and 1/2 similarly decorated trees or plants. Black background. .

# data[].significanceStatement
This collection of ninety-four objects comprises three boomerangs, a club, two spearthrowers, two fire sticks, a hollow wooden smoking pipe, two ceremonial poles, six spears, seven spearheads, three model wood dugout canoes, one model wood canoe, a didjeridu and forty-one bark paintings. All but two of the paintings are from Groote Eylandt, N T.  The remaining paintings and objects are from Yirrkala, N T.  A self-confessed "ardent" collector of Aboriginal art and associate of anthropologist, lawyer, collector and curator, Dr Leonhard Adam, Ernst Redlich acquired this collection by "mail order", circa 1956, from Reverend Allan G Rankine, then  Superintendent of the Methodist Overseas Mission, Yirrkala N T. In a letter to Rankine, Redlich had stressed his desire to collect "very old" art works; in his reply, Rankine explained that the bark paintings themselves were not old, but were produced "mainly… by old men" who painted the stories of their "ancient legends".  The collection was donated to the National Museum by his wife, Josephine Redlich, and son, Peter Redlich, in 1986. 
 
The largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Groote Eylandt lies approximately fifty kilometers off the Northern Territory mainland, opposite Blue Mud Bay and is the homeland of the Anindilyakwa people. Groote Eylandt art, like other Aboriginal art, reflected and illustrated everyday life as well as being a repository of sacred and symbolic meaning. The paintings in this collection depict recurring Groote Eylandt subjects, which include ancestral beings and creation spirits, totemic winds, humans, land and marine animals, birds and landscapes.  Like most bark painting, Groote Eylandt bark art is highly illustrative and concerned with narrative.  However, unlike mainland Arnhem Land art, Groote Eylandt art is distinctive because of its relatively minimalist style portraying red, yellow or red ochred figurative or abstract representations against a black manganese-based, occasionally red or yellow, ochred background. To prepare the bark for painting, strips were cut from a stringy-bark tree and the flaky parts stripped. After curing by smoking over a fire, the bark was alternately buried in sand and exposed to sunlight before being cut into the required shape and size.  The surface was rubbed with the juice of a local plant, which acted as an adhesive. After a light coating of ochre, coloured ochres were applied with fine brushes made from human hair or fibrous bark.  This collection also includes several paintings by Yolngu artist Mungurrawuy Yunipingu. In contrast to Groote Eylandt art, Yolngu art is composed of formalized and prescribed geometric designs which incorporate multiple layers of meaning. Complex figurative and symbolic design effects are achieved through use of cross-hatching or rrark, and many patterns derive from ancestral stories and ceremonies.

# data[].spatial[].title
Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. Long rectangle, corners cut off at angle. The dot design consists of red, white and yellow ochre. Rest of bark darker, probably black (paint faded) .

# data[].spatial[].title
Port Keats (Wadeye), Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A painting on bark featuring people hunting sharks and turtles. There are two black boats, one each at the top and bottom, outlined in white with three figures in each, paddling. In the middle are seven black sharks with white outlines. Underneath the boat are two black turtles and five black sharks all outlined in white. The background consists of brown, yellow and white cross hatchings. Wooden sticks are attached to the top and bottom of the bark with string.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].spatial[].title
Nhulunbuy, Gove Peninsula, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicts four creatures, possibly frogs

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. Depicts 4 creatures, possibly frogs: 2 on each side of bark, facing each other towards centre. Surrounded by various shapes, seemingly abstract; in red, white & yellow with short dashes as decoration. Creatures are red with white outlines & yellow & white dashes as decoration. Black background, framed in lines of white, red & yellow. Lines continue down centre of bark, decorated with white dashes.

# data[].spatial[].title
Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Maningrida Arts and Crafts 26/11/1973 collection

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, in wooden box frame. Depicts 2 saratoga fish & one other with a long narrow jaw. All fish crosshatched with dotted fins, tails & lines on bodies. Between tails of fish are 2 footprints, dotted red on white. Red background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Cadell River, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
A preform container formed from a length of medium coloured bark, truncated at both ends, with a concavo-convex cross section and two lengths of wood on inside, one of which lies loose and the other in place to prevent the bark from closing.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting a barramundi fish.

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark depicting barramundi fish, stylised, body outlined and segmented in black and yellow dots on white, infilled with crosshatching. Red background. On AIA card written: 'Barra' written in white chalk. May have also been something printed below 'Barra' (approx 3 letters or numbers) but is now too smudged to read. '177' in lead pencil [?A-AB number] on thin cream coloured tape adheres. All on reverse side. D Kaus 17/4/1990.'

# data[].significanceStatement
The Sandra Holmes collection no. 5 contains three objects, which include a decorated wooden spearthrower, cylindrical fibre basket and a painted wooden sculpture of a crocodile form. The spearthrower, from Elcho Island in the Northern Territory, has a waisted rounded proximal end.  At the distal end, a wooden peg has been attached at an acute angle. The spearthrower is decorated with pigmented bands of cross-hatching and solid colour overall. The cylindrical woven fibre basket, also from Elcho Island, has a three string handle attached at two points on the rim. The crocodile sculpture, a rangga, from Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, has carved incised squares on its back which have been decorated using solid blocks of yellow, white, red and black pigment.

Sandra Le Brun Holmes worked for many years as an anthropological researcher for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS now AIATSIS).  Throughout this time, she assembled a vast collection of Tiwi and Northern Territory Aboriginal art, and with her husband, Cecil Holmes, recorded and filmed a number of ceremonies for the Institute's Canberra archives.  The largest collection of her art, the "Holmes-Tiwi Collection", is currently held in the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

# data[].spatial[].title
Minjilang, Croker Island, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A painting on bark featuring three emus. The emus are aligned horizontally with white and brown cross hatched markings on their bodies. Underneath each emu are five eggs. The background features white, brown and black horizontal lines. Wooden rods are attached to the left and right sides of the bark with bark strips. On the reverse handwritten in black ink is "K816 /016/05". Also on the reverse is a bar code sticker with the number "A0000273". The bark is split in two places along the grain, at the top right hand corner.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting a stylised tree-shape

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. Bark oval-shaped with tapering ends. Depicts stylised tree-shape with curling branches in bright pink outlined in white. Either side are five black triangles (ten in all), outlined in pink and white. Natural bark background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Port Keats (Wadeye), Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting a barramundi fish

# data[].physicalDescription
A bark painting of ochres on bark in wooden box frame. The bark depicts a barramundi in x-ray style. It is painted white with red spine. The body is outlined and decorated in red lines, and lines and dots of black. The painting has a natural bark background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour bark painting featuring a fish with a red brown patch in the middle, and white cross hatching on the top, bottom and fins. The tail has white line stripes. The background is pigmented white with black lines filled with yellow and black dots. The two ends of the bark have thin cylindrical wooden rods attached with string which are pigmented brown with white wavy lines.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Bark painting with ochres. Depicts ten figures, which appear to be wearing tall conical hats. The figures are red with white spots, and the background is yellow and green. The bark is oval-shaped, so the head of the far right figure is missing.

# data[].spatial[].title
Port Keats (Wadeye), Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
'Banumburr', bark painting by Buranday Waynbarrnga

# data[].description
A typed paper label, probably from the Milingimbi Mission, is attached the back of the painting with sticky tape. It reads:

'Banumbirr

Banumbirr is the morning star, Banumbu is the spirit who looks after the morning star. Each evening he allows the star to rise through the clouds and to cross the heavens, but in the morning light (red and yellow background) he pulls the morning star back to its dilly bag home by meansd  of a long string attached to it.

The spirits of deceased Djambarrpuyngu people follow this star to their eternal resting place. Banambu is sustained by nectar gathered from wild fruit by sacred butterflies.

Painted by Buranday
Millingingimbi Methodist Mission
Arnhem Land
North Australia'

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. To left of bark are 2 crosshatched morning star totems (poles with feathered strings), in centre is a large plant with bulb, leaves & fruit/flowers. To right are numerous humans dancing, playing clapsticks & didjeridoo. 6 butterflies are also depicted. Red & crosshatched background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting seven Mimi spirits.

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, wooden box frame. Depicts seven Mimi spirits. Five (males) are dancing and below them are two asleep. The two sleepers and two of the dancers are smaller and painted white and red. The others are larger and painted white with red, black and yellow decorations. Natural background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Minjilang, Croker Island, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour bark painting featuring a tree like design with two leave at the top yellow with white cross hatching. There are two possums either side one facing up the other down pigmented black with brown and white dots and stripes. The background is brown with white cross hatching. At the top is two pieces of wood bound together at the ends. On the reverse is a wooden block and hand written text in white chalk that reads "52 / ...".

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A coloured bark painting featuring eight turtles of varying sizes and nine fish. At the bottom are white eggs with a multi coloured background. There is a boarder of white lines and blue dots and at the top and bottom are brown and yellow lines on a black background. There is a signature in the bottom left corner that reads "WILLANJIRRI '93". There are two cylindrical poles at the top and the bottom of the bark also pigmented with black with white dots and yellow lines which are bound to the bark through holes.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour painting on bark featuring a figure with line and cross hatch design on a brown background. On the reverse of the bark is tape with handwritten text "47 / 10047". as well as the number "87" and "[U2NS?]" in black marker and a chalk "7". There is also a white patch of paint with the code "AAB/78/7837 / 76/880/010."  On the reverse if the casing is hand written text that reads "DAA 10047". There is also masking tape with the numbers "100 / 47 / 10042 / J" written on it.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting by Bardayal Nadjamerrek depicting a kangaroo playing the didjeridu

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, with restrainers. X-ray style male kangaroo with pole with black bands down body & centre red band, decorated with fine crosshatching on red background. Artist: Lofty Nabarrayal Nadjamerrek. Untitled.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Oval shaped bark painting with ochres. The painting has a pink background, and is divided horizontally into two panels. Each contains a single tree shape with straight radiating branches. One tree shape has black trunk, the other is yellow.

# data[].spatial[].title
Port Keats (Wadeye), Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
The Ngarra Ceremony of the Yirridja Wulageh  People, Bark: Diver Bird Ceremony.  Inv:

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. Depicts four crosshatched objects with double or triple spikes on end, and an object with a bulbous end, decorated in dots and stripes. There are also two fish: a large white salmon and a small red fish; and a human figure with body half dotted and half crosshatched, wearing a crosshatched dillybag around his neck. Background is black, partially dotted and crosshatched.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A painting on bark featuring a cross hatch design with twists. The design consists of ten vertical twists and one horizontal twist. The twists are formed by two black lines repeatedly crossing over each other. Brown, yellow or white cross hatching appear in the centre of each twist. The background is white parallel lines. On the reverse is adhered a wooden block.  Numbers on the reverse includes "DAA / 10021" and "9002175".

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark canoe with pointed bow and stern oversewn with bark strips

# data[].physicalDescription
A bark canoe made from one piece of bark folded in half lengthways and fastened at the ends in a double point, oversewn with bark strips. The longitudinal edges are supported with wood poles oversewn with bark strips. There are four transverse bars at intervals holding sides together. The bars are of bark that loop onto the wooden side poles and are bound across the middle to form supports. There is a severe crack longitudinally in bottom. Text in black on the top side at one end reads 'BATHURST I', and text on the side at the other end reads 'A-C 1'.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting 'Three Rainbow Serpents' by Fred Didjbaralkka Narroldol

# data[].physicalDescription
A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restraienrs. It depicts three serpents with spikes and red and white crosshatching. The serpents are shown arranged in u-shapes. The painting has a brown background.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Oval shaped bark painting with ochres.  Along the centre of the bark is a wavy green stream, and on either side are protruding lines capped with circles, like trees. On one side, the bark is painted white with a curved yellow band as edging. The painting has a red background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Port Keats (Wadeye), Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting three male mimi figures.

# data[].physicalDescription
Bark painting depicting three male mimi figures with crosshatching infill on torso. White figures depicted on red ground.

# data[].spatial[].title
Minjilang, Croker Island, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].description
The painting is by an artist Kunwinjku artist from Oenpelli. The name of the artist was not recorded.

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour painting on bark featuring a fish pigmented white with brown and white lines and cross hatching. The background is not pigmented and there is are two cylindrical poles on the sides bound to the bark with string through holes. On the reverse is text that reads "The White Barramundi..."

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
The Unhappy Voyage of Bawal and Djurandjura, Dreaming  Dogs of the Gubabuigu People, Bark: The Dog and the  Bark Canoe. Inv:

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark, tells story of how bark canoe came into being. Bark divided into 2 panels. Upper contains 2 cross-hatched turtles & 3 crosshatched pointed oval shapes on a white-hatched background, beneath triangles which are crosshatched (rocks) or red & black (storm clouds) . Lower panel contains a dog, a canoe, 2 axe-shapes, a paddle, another oval shape & a triangle (all crosshatched except axe shapes) on a crosshatched background, over purple. Artist: Dawurrangulili (Moiety: Yirridja, Ling: Gubabuingu, Clan: Daigurrgurr, Country: Djiliwirr, NE Arnhem Land, NT) . Title: Inv: 'The Unhappy Voyage of Bawal and Djurandjura, Dreaming Dogs of the Gubabuingu People', Bark: 'The Dog and the Bark Canoe'.

# data[].spatial[].title
Djiliwirri, NE Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
This painting depicts the Morning Star, or Bunimbirr. The symbols at the bottom are the dilly bags the Bunimbirr is kept in during the day. The Black figures represent the morkuys dancing and the white figures are the shades of the deceased travelling to Bralku.

# data[].spatial[].title
Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting titled Ngarra Ceremony by Djawa

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark depicting numerous creatures including three snakes, four lizards, thirteen frogs and six centipedes. The larger creatures are crosshatched while the others are painted yellow, red, black and green. The painting is against a red background with yellow borders at both ends of the length.

# data[].spatial[].title
Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting titled 'Black Crows', by Paddy Dhathangu.

# data[].description
BLACK CROWS
A typed paper label, probably from the Milingimbi Mission, is glued to the back of the painting. It reads:

This picture represents one of the myths from the sacred Wawilak cycle of the Liyagalawumirr clan. The crows are feeding on small white berries which grow wild in the bush. The central piece is a sacred rock, one of the high totems for this ceremony. To the left is a ceremonial boomerang, whilst to the right, Mirrimina - the sacred pool and home of Yulunggurr (Great Python of Wawilak) - is indicated by the fanpalm which grows close to it.

Painted by DHATHANU
Millingimbi Methodist Mission
Arnhem Land
North Australia'

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark. Depicts a large black & crosshatched Y-shaped rock in centre, with a similarly-coloured hooked pole (possible a didjeridoo) to the left, & a club-shaped pool to the right. Fan-shaped palms grow around pool. Leafy plants & twigs grow around figures, with 13 black crows pecking at white dots which decorate background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour painting on bark featuring a snake like animal with two fish one at each side. In the background there are bands of brown and yellow and black with cross hatching in between. On the reverse of the bark is handwritten text that reads "Y103 / TOEEED / D1669" and an Aboriginal Development Commission sticker that reads "2 0577".

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting titled Djalambu by Billy Djoma

# data[].description
A typed paper label, probably from the Milingimbi Mission, is glued to the back of the painting. It reads:

'DJALAMBU

Djalambu is the name of the Gupapuyngu mortuary rites cycle. It is danced at the time of placing of the bones of a deceased person into a hollow buril pole. The subjects of the songs and dances of this cycle concern animals and their food gathering. These include:- wallaby, quail, emu, goanna, carpet snake and diver.

Painted by DJOMA
Millingimbi Methodist Mission
Arnhem Land
North Australia'

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark with a band across the length and width forming a cross in the centre of which is a circle all crosshatched. Each corner panel contains leafy plants with white-dotted fruit/flowers and animals: a wallaby and bird; a diver duck; an emu; a bird, serpent, butterfly, caterpillar and lizard. The painting is against a red background.

# data[].spatial[].title
Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].physicalDescription
Circular painting on bark with ceremonial significance. Black, brown & yellow abstract forms painted on front of mat, circular design with star motif & clean outer edge.

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting by Baliman II, Milingimbi, 1967

# data[].physicalDescription
A painting on bark with black background and covered in rectangles infilled with cross-hatching and diagonal lines.

# data[].spatial[].title
Milingimbi, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting depicting two long-necked turtles.

# data[].physicalDescription
Pigment on bark. Painting divided into two horizontally with a long-necked turtle on a white ground in each panel. Turtles divided and crosshatched. A brown bird is shown beside one turtle.

# data[].spatial[].title
Maningrida, West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting titled 'Hunting and Gathering'.

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A colour painting on bark featuring four figures all facing to the left with several indigenous tools such as boomerangs and spears around them. The figures are pigmented brown with white outline and brown, black and white cross hatching. On the reverse of the bark are three cylindrical poles at the top, middle and the bottom bound with natural fibres through holes in the bark. There is also handwritten text that reads "K42G / 014/05" and two stickers on reads "A2" and the other "A0000272".

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].collection.title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art (ATSIAA) collection no. 1

# data[].physicalDescription
A painting on bark depicting a crocodile decorated with cross hatching and circles. The crocodile is painted in white and browns on a red-brown background.

# data[].significanceStatement
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection comprises 2050 artworks and other objects.  The artworks - which numerically dominate the collection - were produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. The accumulation of these artworks into a single collection has resulted from the choices and selections made during a 38 year period by a variety of staff working for the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (CAA), the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), the Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) at the national, regional and local levels.

The collection spans the years following the 1967 referendum, when dramatic changes in the governance of Aboriginal people took place, up to 2005 when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was dissolved. It provides a snapshot of the diversity and changes in Indigenous art and its representation which occurred during the period of its formation. The small number of 'non-art' objects in the collection is also significant in providing insights into the working of the various Commonwealth bodies involved in Indigenous affairs. As well as the significance of many of the individual pieces, the collection is also significant as a whole, as a complex artefact stemming from Australia's history of governance of Australian Indigenous peoples.

# data[].isAggregatedBy[].title
Show all objects included in the ATSIAA  collection

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Bark painting with black lizards and fish

# data[].physicalDescription
Ochres on bark in wooden box frame. Bark divided into a number of panels. Top centre & bottom: black lizard with fish either side. Top & bottom centre: 2 fish. Down both sides: bands containing 4-toed prints. Figures black or yellow. Background of yellow lines & crosshatching. Artist: Larrjanga (Ngaimil tribe). Location: Cape Arnhem, Yirrkala, NT.

# data[].spatial[].title
Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC

# data[].title
Rungani, my Country, Bark: My skin - Berakka

# data[].description
Ochres on bark. Artist pays respect to his 'skin' (totem) -spider. Background of rectangular panels with curved & straight strokes (web) . Many panels contain white & yellow dots (spiders eggs) . Also depicts a wriggly line (snake) , 6-legged creature (octopus) , crescent shapes (moon) , motorcar-shapes (hills) , turtles, human figures, crocodile, wallaby: all in white. Ovals & a rectangle containing crosses are islands off the coast. Artist: Inv: Irmiyati (Tiwi tribe) . Title: Inv: 'Rangani, my Country', Bark: 'My skin - Berakka'.

# data[].physicalDescription
A bark paitning made with ochre featuring a background of rectangular panels with curved and straight strokes. Many panels contain white & yellow dots. The paiting also depicts a wriggly line, a 6-legged creature, car shapes, crescent shapes, turtles, human figures, crocodile and a wallaby, all in white.

# data[].spatial[].title
Bathurst Island, Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia

# data[]._meta.copyright
Copyright National Museum of Australia / CC BY-NC