- Title: Githalai ur (crabbing tide)
- Artist: Billy Missi
- Region: Queensland
- Art Centre: Djumbunji Press
- Medium: Linocut
- Collection:
- Dimensions: 42.5x58cm
- Edition Size: 50
- Price ($AUD): $ 500.00
Artwork Story
The tide is important as it tells us and identifies to us the different types of foods that are available for gathering along our beautiful Island coastline. We have a very complex tide pattern in our eco-system, which works around the phases of the moon.
This image represents the right time to go crabbing. When the watermark reaches the bottom of the mangrove roots, that tells us it is the right time to walk along the mangrove and pick up mud crabs that crawl out to bury themselves in the mud-flat before it dries.
On the same tide, when it rises, you can pick them up crawling into the thick mangroves to feed. This plays a vital role for our food sources for survival. Our ancestors have handed down this knowledge orally and practically through generations and generations since time immemorial.
© Djumbunji Press, KickArts, Cairns