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The Late Rosalind Gillespie Collection, Sydney
Lot 38

Bruce Nabegeyo
(circa 1949-2009)
Barramundi, 1970s

27 August 2025, 14:00 AEST
Sydney

Sold for AU$369 inc. premium

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Bruce Nabegeyo (circa 1949-2009)

Barramundi, 1970s
natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
23.0 x 79.0cm (9 1/16 x 31 1/8in).

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Oenpelli Mission, Northern Territory, cat. A29 (label attached verso)
Sotheby's, Sydney, 9 November 1997, lot 241
The Gillespie Collection, Sydney

The label attached verso reads:

'In the Dreamtime, a giant called Luma Luma wandered over Western Arnhem Land accompanied by Ngalyod, the rainbow serpent. Together they taught the Gonwinggu people ceremonial rights, law and all aspects of their culture.

Luma Luma and Ngalyod had seen some big white barramundi swimming in the sea and decided to catch some and bring them into the freshwater billabongs of Western Arnhem Land. In this way the Gonwinggu people would always have fish to eat.

Eventually Luma Luma was speared by irate tribespeople because of his greed and his stealing of wives but he is always honoured in sacred ceremonies because of his great knowledge of the culture and his stocking of western Arnhem Land billabongs with barramundi.'

Additional information

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