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Sydney Contemporary 2023: NextGen Ernabella + Jack Nawilil Spirit Poles

Past exhibition
7 - 10 September 2023
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jack Nawilil, Namarrorddo a Profane Spirit, 2015
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jack Nawilil, Namarrorddo a Profane Spirit, 2015
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jack Nawilil, Namarrorddo a Profane Spirit, 2015

Jack Nawilil Rembarrnga, Mayali, b. 1/1/1945

Namarrorddo a Profane Spirit, 2015
paperbark, natural fibres, ochre
165 x 10 cm
65 x 4 in
MM5769
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Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Jack Nawilil, Daluk Ngalkodjek, 2023
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Jack Nawilil, Daluk Ngalkodjek, 2023
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Jack Nawilil, Daluk Ngalkodjek, 2023
Namorrorddo is a profane spirit sometimes called a 'bad angel' in Aboriginal English. The Namorrorddo is a yirridjdja moiety being associated with the Yabbadurruwa regional cult ceremony. Namorrorddo sits upon...
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Namorrorddo is a profane spirit sometimes called a 'bad angel' in Aboriginal English. The Namorrorddo is a yirridjdja moiety being associated with the Yabbadurruwa regional cult ceremony.


Namorrorddo sits upon a rock and is usually painted with long claw like hands and feet. Sometimes spurs protrude from the elbows somewhat like those of a flying fox. Namorrorddo carries light, which emanates from his head. The shooting stars seen at night are Namorrorddo travelling across the night sky. He whistles an eerie cry, which Aboriginal people say they can hear at night from time to time. Namorrorddo is feared as an evil being who attacks humans by clubbing them with his fighting stick or miyarrul. Namorrorddo is also sometimes depicted carrying bamboo spears and a spear thrower. Namorrorddo is a major dreaming totem for the Kardbam clan. There are a few examples of images of Namorrorddo painted in rock shelters in the Mann and Liverpool Rivers district.


In 2012 Nawilil won the Wandjuk Marika 3D Award of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award with a similar spirit pole, of which the judges commented: " Namorroddo embodies a sense of mysticism and draws in the viewer with its remarkable finesse of execution. This ceremony pole deals with that which is undisclosed, and yet evokes a strong masculine presence. Namorroddo is the Lightning Man, an ancestral figure who causes mischief at night, creating violent electrical lightning storms across the top end. This idea is conveyed by Nawilil’s palette of midnight purple, charcoal black, and bold patches of white that allude to body-paint. Close inspection reveals windings of handmade twine coiled around the pole; the flourish of two feather-tipped strings complement and add further mystery to the grave aesthetic of the piece"

the grave aesthetic of the piece."

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Provenance

Maningrida Arts and Culture 251-15
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