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“Well, my grandmother was Nambin, because my mum and dad were married the right way. And that’s my Ngawji, like my grandmother’s skin name. My father’s mother. The story for Nambin is the same one for Garnkiny (the moon), who is the skin Julama (crocodile).”
The story of Nambin and Garnkiny is told through many Warmun paintings, as the Garnkiny Ngarranggarni (Moon Dreaming). Garnkiny fell in love with his mother in law, the beautiful black headed python, and this was forbidden. The tribe disallowed the relationship and Garnkiny got angry. He cursed the tribe, saying they would die and they would never come back, while he, the moon, would come back every night forever.
This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.
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