Water Country — “Map of Iminji” by Jack Dale
Date: Saturday, 25th November 2023
Author: Muyao Zhang
Hello World! As I appreciate Aboriginal artworks and writings, the word of ‘country’ always come in front of me, making me wonder what it actually means. After conducting some relevant research, I learnt that ‘country’ is a term used by Aboriginal peoples to describe the lands, waterways and seas to which they are connected. For Aboriginal people, ‘country’ includes all living things, such as people, plants and animals, and embraces the seasons, stories and creation spirits. It is both a place of belonging and a way of believing.
Next, let me lead you into the ‘Water Country’ and make acquaintance with Jack Dale, one of the renowned Aboriginal artists.
Jack Dale, whose full name is Jack Dale Mengenen, was an Australian indigenous artist, painter, and folklorist. He was born in 1922 and passed away on 8th February 2013. Jack Dale is Kimberley personified. He spoke Ngarinyin, the language of his birth, and several other Indigenous Kimberley languages.
One of his artworks that I admire very much is the “Map of Iminji”, in which Jack Dale used various ochre colours to depict the limestone reef and drainage flats.
To enrich the Engineering Design Process, especially to proceed from Design to Create, I built a pixel art based on Jack Dale’s masterpiece, ‘Map of Iminji’.
Below are some notes I collected from Art Mob, Tasmania, regarding the ochre colours used by Jack Dale in his artworks. (Source: Art Mob)
1. Yellow – Gum Bar Ru. Frilled Neck lizard fat and carpet snake. There are certain rocks which represent the fat (kidney fat). When yellow colour is needed this rock is broken.
2. Red – Jimbiri or Jadal. The dark red ochre is the colour of Wadi the Nightjar bird, we call Jimbiri. The light red is Jungun Nightjar Jadal.
3. White – is the droppings from the snake, eaglehawk and perentie lizard. The aboriginal name is Unmul.
4. Black – No Wandjina made black, it is just burnt logs. We don’t have to go far to get it. Black represents the colour of our skin.
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