The works made by Djirrirra are painted on pieces of board which were originally used as part of a stage put down on the Yirrkala basketball courts by the Bangarra Dance Theatre for a performance they flew to Yirrkala to perform.

This performance for the community acknowledged the cultural debt Bangarra owes the Yolŋu of Yirrkala for their generosity in sharing their sacred dance since Bangarra’s inception.

Bangarra have staged three separate full scale performances in Yirrkala where they have donated their stage to Yirrkala artists. The first was a performance of Mathinna in late 2011. They visited again in September 2014 and performed Kinship. And they returned in September 2018 to stage a performance of Nyapanyapa a dance choreographed by Stephen Page inspired by the life and art of Yirrkala artist Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu. The boards were used as art materials at the suggestion of Stephen Page, Artistic Director of Bangarra.

The theme of her work here is a renewal ceremony which unites all Yirritja clans to renew the land. The motif of this gathering is the yam Yukuwa, which connects all the disparate roots of the families. It renews itself each year as does the soul of departed family members who are reborn in an infinite cycle.

One of Djirrirra’s personal names happens also to be Yukuwa so in some ways this is a self portrait. She is using expressive interpretations of the plant to suggest the fecundity and cyclical nature of existence.

From the same clan but painting in a more formally compliant way to represent the identity of the land is Naypirri Gumana. In the Yolŋu kinship system he is the märi of Djirrirra. This is a very significant relationship, metaphorically seen as the backbone. We would call him Djirrirra’s maternal great uncle but this is better understood as her mother’s mother’s brother. A male maternal grandmother.

Whilst they are each from the Dhalwaŋu clan of the Yirritja moiety they are from different branches of that clan and painting different estates. Naypirri renders the classical sacred design of an area known as Buyku.

This place also symbolizes unity amongst clans. In this case all those groups who live along the Gäṉgän River join together to construct an elaborate fish trap which acts as a weir across the river. The ceremony and the activity occur simultaneously in the place identified by this design. The straight lines intersecting the diamonds are the wooden stakes driven into the river bed to support the structure.

Both artists come from Gäṉgän which although having only ten houses has seen ten major art awards won by residents. Naypirri is a senior ceremonial and community leader including as Chair of the region's Indigenous schools council Yambirrpa. Although he is related to all of the famous artists of Gäṉgän and knowledgeable in all of the relevant designs he only began to paint outside ceremonial contexts in 2017. After such a delayed beginning the sophistication and virtuosity of his expression was truly surprising.

Naypirri Gumana, Buyku 2018, Earth pigments on Stringybark hollow pole.