AGWA1967_0XI2

Title: Invitation Message String made by Gakuba

Creator of Object: GAKUBA (Australian, b.1910, d.1973)

Date Created: 1967

Notes on date created: Date of purchase by the Art Gallery of Western Australia

Item type: message stick in a collection

Subtype: replicative

Dimension 1: 1860mm

Materials: carved wood, feathers, string

Institution/Holder file: The Art Gallery of Western Australia object identifier: 1967/0XI2

Media copyright: The Art Gallery of Western Australia © Licenced by Aboringinal Artists Agency Ltd The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia

URL institution: https://collection.artgallery.wa.gov.au/objects/1441/invitation-message-string

Notes: PK: This looks like a messenger string. See especially Robyn McKenzie: "At Yirrkala, the Berndts collected a number of carved and painted wooden seagull bird’s heads with feathered strings attached, used as both love magic tokens and in mortuary ritual.[fn:81: Elkin et al., Art in Arnhem Land, 1950: 84–91. Berndt, Love Songs of Arnhem Land, 1978: Addendum: ‘Love-Magic Objects’, 192–94.] The ‘Love Magic Object’ illustrated by the Berndts in 1950 fits also with their description of the message string sent to notify of a death (said to ‘contain part of the deceased person’s spirit’): the feathered string attached to the bird’s head being similarly arranged to form the body and wings (Fig. 8.18).[fn:82: Elkin et al., Art in Arnhem Land, 1950: 88.]" 284 McKenzie, Robyn Elizabeth. 2016. One continuous loop: Making and meaning in the string figures of Yirrkala. Canberra: Australian National University PhD thesis.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Nitzan Rotman