Larrakitj : Aboriginal memorial poles by Wukun Wanambi

An installation by contemporary Aboriginal Australian artist Wukun Wanambi, on view now at The British Museum, addresses a series of important ideas about ancestral power, the significance of land and the search for meaning. Aboriginal Australian memorial poles – known as larrakitj – are hollow coffins created to hold the bones of the dead in secondary burial. Placed in groups on significant sites and painted with clan symbols, they are left to deteriorate with wind and weather. Contemporary artist Wukun Wanambi belongs to the Yolngu people of northern Arnhem Land and has worked innovatively with this longstanding art form for over a decade. Wukun’s work is an exploration into traditional forms with deep connections to clan, territory and ancestral stories.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Wukun Wanambi  -  Wetjwitj (detail), 2013

Image courtesy of The British Museum