GARAWAN WANAMBI

The Marrangu and Marrakulu are closely related clans who share many of the same sacred laws and mythologies. Both tell of the felling of monumental trees by the honey ancestor, Wuyal; the scouring out of a river course by the fallen log on its way to sea; a deluge of honey; floods and other apocalyptic events.

“Garawan plays with the expressive potential of his clan’s geometric designs to create expressive and illusionistic patterns which appear simultaneously sharp and clear and yet are hard to read. It is difficult to work out precisely the nature of the transformations between adjacent forms. His series of poles are a reflection of his own identity as a Marrakulu clansman with close spiritual connections to the Marrangu clan from Raymangirr, in the west of the Yolngu region. Garawan was brought up by Wayungga, a Marrangu leader. Marrangu and Marrakulu share many of the same madayin (sacred law). Mosquito is important to both clans — connecting Raymangirr with Manbalala on Blue Mud Bay.

The mosquito is a symbol of aggression and the ancestral mosquitoes fight with spears as on an avenging expedition. The mosquito ancestors are associated with places of spiritual danger that cause boils. Fighting is a release of tension just as is the bursting of a boil. The central image in many of Garawan's paintings represents a sacred object that references the pointed stick used to lance a boil. Garawan is named after this object. The background designs represent a place in the river mouth near Raymangirr where freshwater springs bubble up beneath the saltwater. The designs represent the different character of the waters, moving from anger and turbulence to the calm of resolution, bathed in the warmth of the sun’s rays.“1

Garawan is married to Manini Gumana and he and his family continue to live and work at Gangan.