bHet nagenoeg rechthoekige stuk boomschors is voorzien van drie voorstellingen: In het midden de blaaspijp of didjeridoe en aan weerskanten daarvan een goanna. De schildering is uitgevoerd in rood, wit, zwart en geel.<BR> Zie aangehechte foto. Wat de interpretatie aangaat bevond zich aan de achterkant een papiertje met de volgende tekst "Initiation ceremony". This the initiation ceremony at which young boys are circumcised. One of the main dances of this ceremony is the goanna dance. The central piece of the painting is a carved and painted wooden ceremonial piece similar to a digeridoo. This repre-sents Yurlungurr - the Great Snake - of aboriginal mythology. It is painted in this way in order that women or uninitiated members of the tribe may not know of its presence or significance".<BR> Als naam van de maker wordt Jawa opgegeven; plaats: Milingimbi Methodist Mission, Arnhem Land, North Australia.<BR> <BR> This bark painting, from Milingimbi, combines the style typical of north-eastern Arnhem Land with that of western Arnhem Land where a plain, open background is preferred.<BR> Two female freshwater goanna face one another across a vertical bar. On their bodies are clan designs, such as are painted on the chests of participants in the corresponding sacred ritual.<BR> <BR> The goanna are females, as the linked oval designs on their bodies are said to be eggs. The painting illustrated here is said to have been used in an increase ritual, and as a teaching-aid to novices learning about the relevant myth.<BR> <BR> Bron: edited by Ronald M. Berndt, The Macmillan Compagny, New York Collier-Macmillan Ltd, Londen, 1964, p. 97.<BR> <BR> <BR> Bark painting by Jawa, a Yolngu artist from Milingimbi, central Arnhem Land. It depicts a ceremonial didjeridu flanked by two goannas. This refers to the initiation of boys, during which the goanna dance is performed. The didjeridu symbolises Yurlunguur, the mythical Great Snake, represented here in a manner unrecognisable to women and the uninitiated. (Exhibition Catalogue: Australia, the Land, the People (2005))<BR> <BR> The painting corresponds to body painting. The artist belongs to the dua moiety. The red ochre used is called ratjpa (Howard Morphy, 10 juni 2011). <BR> Marine ochre ratjpa from Elcho Island, highly sought after throuout the region for its purplish red-brown hue, is associated with the travels of the Djan'kawu, ancestral beings who brought it from Buralku, a mythical island of the dead somewhere to the east. This red ochre which is the colour of hematite materialises the flaming energy of the sun, a star to which Djan'kawu beings are associated. (Wonu Veys, juni 2011).