Merryn Schriever
Managing Director, Australia
Lot 32
Rover Thomas(circa 1926-1998)Kankamkankami, 1988
Amended
19 November 2017, 16:00 AEDT
Melbourne, ArmadaleSold for AU$61,000 inc. premium
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Alex Clark
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist
Rover Thomas (circa 1926-1998)
Kankamkankami, 1988
inscribed verso with Mary Macha cat. 21289 and 'Kungumni (Kankami)'
natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas
60.0 x 100.0cm (23 5/8 x 39 3/8in).
inscribed verso with Mary Macha cat. 21289 and 'Kungumni (Kankami)'
natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas
60.0 x 100.0cm (23 5/8 x 39 3/8in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
The Estate of Mary Macha AM, Perth
EXHIBITED
Rover Thomas: I Want to Paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 3 June-17 August 2003; then touring to Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, 13 December 2003-26 January 2004; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 February-9 May 2004; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 24 September-28 November 2004; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 18 December 2004-6 March 2005
LITERATURE
Belinda Carrigan (ed.), Rover Thomas: I Want to Paint, Heytesbury Pty. Ltd. trading as Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, 2003, cat. 17, n.p. (illus.), p.74 (illus.)
According to personal correspondence provided to Mary Macha by Dr Patricia Vinnicombe, "Kankamkankami is associated with the abduction of two boys who were going to be circumcised. She pushed the boys down a deep hole because she wanted to do the ceremony herself. She made the hole by pushing rocks. Kankamkankami was a Mirriwung person and therefore spoke Mirriwung. Kankamkankami created a range of mountains and associated springs flanking the southern edge of the valley in which Texas Downs homestead is located. The sites associated with men (Snake Dreaming) are on the northern side of the valley. The sites associated with women (Kankamkankami Dreaming) are on the southern side. Kankamkankami is associated with the origins of male initiation. She stole two boys who were being made ready for initiation and hid them in a deep hole on Texas Downs which she created magically with a stick. Some versions of the complex story suggest she may have had sex with them. She was then pursued over the Ord River back to the Northern Territory where she was speared to death on Newry Station. Her story is always punctuated, as in Rover's, with a repetitive ditty which is sung over and over again, much to the enjoyment of children. 'Kankamkankami, Kankamkankami ngaya yayi yayi' or 'Kankamkankami, Kankamkankami, Ya bo bo'."
According to personal correspondence provided to Mary Macha by Eileen Bray, "she was a woman. She went along these hills looking for her grandchildren, singing 'Kankamkankami, Kankamkankami'. Something from that other side answered her. She got frightened. She cut through and came out the other side. You can see that hill now)."
Kankamkankami, 1989 depicts the rock that Kankamkankami tried to push with a stick and cut off his penis when the boys knelt down.
Saleroom notices
This lot has an export permit under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986