Shield
1989
Medium
wood
Measurements
46.6 × 14.0 × 6.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria, 1991
© Rosie Karadada/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Gallery 3
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
Rosie Karadada was a senior Wunambal woman from Kalumburu, the northernmost settlement in Western Australia. She grew up under the control of a Benedictine mission, where daily life was shaped by discipline, labour and cultural suppression. Despite these conditions, she maintained strong memories of traditional life and the disruptions imposed on family and cultural practices. The Wanjina is a powerful rainmaker spirit associated with the Western Australian region of the Kimberley, particularly the local Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunambal peoples. It is believed that Wanjina beings imprinted themselves onto rocks and cave walls during ancestral times, with custodians of the Wanjina repainting such impressions with ochre for tens of thousands of years.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Kalumburu, Western Australia
Accession Number
O.119-1991
Department
First Nations Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation