Cockatoo Totem - Wawilal Story
BOPANI: artist
No image available
This beautifully made rangga is most interesting and unusual. It is the cockatoo totem from the Wawilak ceremony made by Bopani. The circles represent the waterhole, the striped lines are the creeks and the crosshatching is the runoff from the rain. Down at the bottom on the narrow side is a very interesting little panel showing the footprints representing the travels of the Wawilak. The next one up is the two sacred yam sticks, the waterhole which they visited, the yams they dug and the sacred dilly bag. The head is that of the cockatoo. Bopani is a younger brother of Djunmal. Exhibited: Field field Museum, Chicago. 1972. Cat.
Title
Cockatoo Totem - Wawilal Story
Artist/Maker and role
BOPANI: artist
Date
1968
Medium
ochres on wood
Measurements
162.7 x 4.5 x 7.2cm
Credit line
Purchased through the Western Australian Government, 1988
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
1988/0520