Mowanjum People Spirit of the Wandjina

Our Culture

Added by Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre

Description The Wandjina is the centre of spiritual life for the three tribes who live at Mowanjum (Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunambal). The stories of the Wandjina from Lalai (creation time) inform all aspects of life in this West Kimberley Aboriginal community, and are publicly celebrated every year in a festival of ritual, dance and song.

Photographed during the 2010 festival, Mowanjum People - Spirit of the Wandjina is an 18 minute film that explores the importance of these beliefs against the tumultuous recent history of the community. Narrated by local artist Leah Umbagai, the film voices the histories of key elders at Mowanjum. Their heartfelt personal stories speaking of a dynamic on-going culture that has sustained a proud people for millennia.

As celebrated Worrorra artist and lawman Donny Woolagoodja says; "Without your culture you're lost, floating.... that's why it's so very important that the Wandjina remains alive and strong and Mowanjum".

www.mowanjumarts.com

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