Spider Namirrki: Painter of the Mimih Dreaming
Spider Namirrki (c.1924–1973) also called Spider nabuna stands as a foundational yet under-recognised figure in the canon of Aboriginal bark painting. Known for his hauntingly graceful depictions of Mimih spirits—the elongated, ethereal beings of the stone country—Namirrki’s work captures both the mystery and majesty of Kunwinjku ceremonial life. A pivotal figure among the early Oenpelli bark painters, Namirrki is remembered today for his spiritual depth, artistic freedom, and the fluidity of his brush.
Although he passed away before bark painting achieved broader commercial success, his work remains highly collectible. His finest bark paintings, created for anthropologists before the missionary influence standardised formats, are among the most vivid and animated portrayals of Arnhem Land’s supernatural realm.
Collectors and institutions alike now seek out these early examples of Spider Namirrki’s Mimih Dreaming—works that depict the sacred and delightful Mimih spirits.
Spider also painted rock shelters along with other early Oenpelli artists like Nym Djimungurr Nadjombolmi and Mandidja.
Style and Technique
Spider Namirrki’s bark paintings are hallmarked by:
- Archaic irregularity: Many of his works lack straight edges, having been painted before the common practice of fixing bark with wooden struts. These undulating forms add to their raw aesthetic power.
- Minimalist palette: A warm red ochre ground is overlaid with white figures, accented sparingly with red and yellow. The simplicity amplifies the drama.
- Expressive freedom: Namirrki painted with a looseness that predates missionary-era formalism. His linework is confident yet organic, full of breath and movement.
- Mythic content: Early paintings frequently depict Mimih Dreaming, while later works—more commercial in nature—focus on faunal representations such as kangaroos, crocodiles, barramundi, and stingrays.
While the early Mimih paintings are prized for their ritual power and rarity, Namirrki’s later bark paintings—though more square in format and fitted with stick supports—remain important documents of his stylistic evolution. However, they lack the expressive force of his pre-commercial work and are less sought after by high-end collectors.
Spider’s barks have been wrongly attributed to crocker island artists including Namatbara. Mijau mijau and even Nangunyari.
The Mimih Dreaming
At the centre of Spider Namirrki’s artistic output is the Mimih Dreaming, a deeply spiritual narrative known across western Arnhem Land. According to Bininj tradition, Mimih (or Mimi) are flesh-and-blood ancestral spirits, impossibly thin and elongated beings who once lived in the cracks and crevices of the escarpments. These supernatural figures taught the first Aboriginal people how to hunt, butcher game, dance, sing, and paint—transforming them from bush people into “civilised” custodians of culture.
Namirrki’s renderings of Mimih are neither rigid nor formulaic. Instead, they are expressive and animated—limbs flowing in rhythm with ancestral songs, eyes wide with spiritual intensity, their movements almost musical. His treatment of these figures is closer to the Croker Island school than to later Oenpelli painters. The Mimih in his work often appear in groups, mid-dance or poised in ritual interaction, conveying both their playfulness and their latent danger.
Namirrki’s visual vocabulary—elongated forms, limited colour palette, and rhythmic composition—invokes the very essence of Kunred (country). His Mimih figures, though often mistaken for those by Namatbara, Mijau Mijau, or Nangunyari, are distinct in their fluidity and spiritual charge.
Biography
Biography
- Born: circa 1924
- Died: 1973
- Skin: Nawamud / Gojok
- Clan: Bulardja
- Languages: Kunwinjku, Kune, Dalabon, Gunjeihmi, Kundedjnjenghmi
- Country (Kunred): Yiminy, western Arnhem Land
- Dreaming (Djang): Namarrkon (Lightning Man), the tempted one (Mimih dreaming)
- Roles: Ceremonial leader, healer, sorcerer, headhunter, rock artist, bark painter
- Ceremonies: Gunapipi, Mardyin, Djabulurrwah
- Mission-era Occupations: Buffalo hunter, baker, meatworker, public servant
Namirrki was also a man of great cultural and domestic complexity. He had five wives and numerous children:
- Daisy Guymala: mother to Betty, Bundy, and Olive
- Molly Nabarlambarl: mother to Leanne
- Wendy Djogiba: mother to Mary
- Dukalwanga Namundja: mother to Ivan Namirrki
- Ruth Djandjomerr: mother to Neville, Robert, and Ivan Namarnyilk
His descendants continue to hold knowledge and custodianship of his sacred sites and stories.
Special Thanks to Bindi Isis (Artist, activist, naturalist, teacher, mother). She provided biographical information about this fascinating Man.
Collectability and Value
Today, Spider Namirrki bark paintings—particularly those depicting Mimih Dreaming—are prized by connoisseurs for their:
- Rarity
- Spiritual intensity
- Pre-commercial authenticity
- Archaic technique
Works from his early period are extremely scarce and command significant interest ($5,000 USD+) in the secondary market, especially from institutions and advanced private collections.
Later animal-themed barks, while attractive and accessible, are less desirable to serious collectors and usually sell in the hundreds not thousands.
Namirrki’s bark paintings often appear in collections of early Arnhem Land work and are occasionally misattributed.
If you believe you own a painting by Spider Namirrki, particularly one featuring elongated Mimih figures, you are encouraged to seek expert authentication.
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Meaning of Spider Namirrki Artworks
Mimih Women Dreaming
Ngalmangiyi, the Long-Necked Turtle
As Depicted in the Yabbadurruwa Ceremony and Western Arnhem Land Bark Paintings
In the sacred cosmology of Western Arnhem Land, Ngalmangiyi, the Northern Snake-necked Turtle, is not merely a species of freshwater animal but an ancestral force of formidable power. Ngalmangiyi is immortalised in bark painting, oral narrative, and ceremony—especially through his dramatic encounter with the ancestral being Ngarrbek, the echidna.
At the heart of this myth is a legendary battle, a foundational story from the Yabbadurruwa ceremony, one of the great regional rituals of Western Arnhem Land. According to tradition, Ngalmangiyi consumed the child of Ngarrbek, a transgressive act that ignited a cataclysmic conflict between the two beings. As the tale unfolds, Ngalmangiyi hurls a volley of spears at Ngarrbek, so numerous they cover his entire body. These spears, in a moment of spiritual transformation, became the quills of the echidna—a permanent reminder of his suffering.
Ngarrbek, in turn, wielded a magical grindstone, a sacred object of immense metaphysical force. With it, he struck Ngalmangiyi, shattering it and it becoming the turtle’s back. The fragments of the grindstone embedded into the creature’s flesh, hardening into a protective shell, and thereby transforming Ngalmangiyi into the long-necked turtle.
This duel of transformation between two powerful Ancestral Beings is not a mere myth—it is a spiritual law, echoed in dance, song, and visual art. The Yabbadurruwa ceremony, belonging to the Yirridjdja moiety, re-enacts these events in choreography and song cycles that trace the travels and trials of creator beings as they journeyed through Country. Alongside the Kunabibbi ceremony of the Duwa moiety, it constitutes a primary pillar of Western Arnhem Land ceremonial life.