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Aboriginal Artist Lennie Murabura |
Lennie is a senior Bininj man born in Arnhem Land and raised purely in the traditional way. From a very early age his father taught him the art of hunting, spearing and preparing bush meat for the family. He has a very proficient hunting history and now as a grandfather he proudly teaches his grandsons in the same way.
He speaks the old language (Gunwinjku and also other dialects from Arnhem along with Gundjeihmi – the more modern language). His art is also very traditional and will showcase the animals, bushfood and the sacred pictures of the ‘Djang’ or ‘Dreamtime’.
Usually there are only the 4 colours (red – earth, yellow – sun, black – charcoal/fire and the most sacred ochre is white used for ceremony and body paint etc.) and specific to this region is X-Ray art style. Lennie’s distinct and fine work is recognisable and he has a range of animals that are his favourite to paint: Warradjan the pig nosed turtle – and the Almangyi the long neck turtle.
The fine lines are known as ‘Rarrk’ and is achieved by a fine piece of grass shaved down to around 4-5 hairs. The lines are evenly placed and will go in a particular order and pattern against a background and will also feature organs, skeletal system the guts and even sections of meat. This is almost a guide for Bininj to use when cutting up meat or ‘gunganj’ and is also seen when fish ‘djeng’ are painted with distinctive spine and bones along with a fierce predatory outline of the spikes on its body.
Lennie is also the ‘Didjeridoo/Mago Man’ and this honour is bestowed on him from his tribe, elected from a long time ago and through protocol he will represent this role in ceremonies, funerals and various ‘Gunborrk’ or corroboree. He is a proud man and is one of the more respected men from this region.