Mirragma gunugurr-wa 

Sculptures by Larrakia artists Uncle Roque Lee and Trent Lee are created in partnership with Larrakia Nation and Garuwa Creative.

mirragma gunugurr-wa refers to the bamboo raft that Larrakia people used to cross the ocean from Cox Peninsula to Darwin. The project includes two sculptural artworks - a replica of a bamboo raft, and a 4m steel mermaid tail telling a Mermaid Dreaming story, complete with tidal markings and Larrakia language inscribed on the base. 

Larrakia Nation and City of Darwin partnered to deliver Council's first Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2020 – 2022 with the roll-out of a Public Art project depicting a Larrakia story from the Bicentennial Park area on The Esplanade.  

Senior artist Uncle Roque Lee and artist Trent Lee collaborated with First Nations led creative producers Garuwa Creative to conceptualise, fabricate and install the sculpture.  

This marks the first time Larrakia stories have been represented within Bicentennial Park and marked the largest financial commitment Council had made to a Public Art project to date.

Meet the Artists

The project brought together Larrakia Nation, City of Darwin and Garuwa Creative to celebrate Larrakia culture through Public Art. The artworks in mirragma gunugurr-wa honour cultural knowledge, community connection and language, while also creating a striking landmark in Bicentennial Park. 

Watch a video of artists Roque Lee and Trent Lee talk about the story behind mirragma gunugurr-wa

mirragma gunugurr-wa is funded by City of Darwin. Additional support for the digital assets has been provided from Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade and Regional Arts Fund Cultural Tourism Accelerator.

Watch a video of artist Trent Lee talk about the Larrakia language used in mirragma gunugurr-wa

mirragma gunugurr-wa is funded by City of Darwin. Additional support for the digital assets has been provided from Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade and Regional Arts Fund Cultural Tourism Accelerator.

FAQs

Artist Profile - Trent "Bundirrik" Lee

I am a Larrakia man through my father and part of the large Cubillo family.  I was about seven  when I was taught by my father to paint in our traditional method.  I was also creatively and culturally influenced by other family members, including Uncle Roque.  I was taught how to carve and make our cultural artefacts and our cultural tools from about the age of 10 - making spears, boomerangs and carvings like birds, turtles and stingrays, just to name a few.

I have some of my spears and other artefacts in the Governor Generals’ offices, Anthony Albanese’s office and a few of the other high commands from the Defence Force and the American Consulate. 

I’ve made two canoes - one for Adina Vibe at 1.4 metres long, while the other is 6 metres long for Northern Land Council with my Uncle.  I had the privilege of creating the walking path stickers for Bruce Munroe’s Tropical Light exhibition, and also created the 40 magpie geese art installation on the lawns of Brown’s Mart in Darwin City.  I painted some of the awards for the National Indigenous Music Awards, and have sold artworks through the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, and in Larrakia Nation’s shop front.

I am also a spray paint artist and have been using this medium for the last five years.  I have been heavily involved in the Darwin street art scene for two years and painted lots of murals at several different schools and businesses in the Darwin and Palmerston area.  The largest mural I have painted is at the Palmerston Recreation centre coming in at 36 metres long and 12 metres high.

Artist Profile - Uncle Roque Lee

• Language Group Name: Gullawan

• First Nations Group : Larrakia – Gulumerrdjin – Cubillo Family

Daniel Roque (Gullawan) Lee was born in Darwin NT and is a member of the highly respected Cubillo Family, one of the 8 family groups that make up the Larrakia Nation.

He is a Senior Larrakia man with 8 brothers and 6 sisters. He was educated in Darwin and began his artistic career at a very young age, being taught by Uncles and Elders. He has developed his skills of crafting woomeras, didgeridoos, spears, message sticks, canoes, clap sticks, digging sticks and many different traditional animal carvings.

Roque is a much sought-after painter and sculpture, creating works of art out of shells, feathers, leather, bone, sawfish bills, buffalo horns and sculls, metal vinyl, canvas, seeds, wood and household white goods.

Roque was fortunate to work for most of his working life as a ranger where he gained intimate knowledge of the environment and the animals, insects, reptiles, sea creatures and fauna and flora. This intimate knowledge inspires him with his artwork, which he combines with the knowledge he received from his Mother.

He has crafted special Message Sticks for the Dali Lama and Prince Charles as gifts from the Cubillo family, and has discovered and perfected the method of sealing paint on feathers and creates unique works of art for “fans”, “figures” and individual feathers.

Roque’s totems are goanna and pelican and he carries the knowledge and stories for these totems, which he is passing on to his son, nephews, nieces and grand nephews and nieces.

Larrakia glossary

Larrakia word	Translation
Gwiyarlwa Gulumerrdjin	Larrakia Country
gunamidjindawa	saltwater
mirragma gunugurr-wa	bamboo raft
gumilabirra gunamidjindawa	saltwater woman/‘mermaid’
minanggurrgwa	morning
gudlinyawa	afternoon
damanggw	night

*These language words were supplied by Trent Lee and workshopped with Aunty Bilawara Lee - both have approved the spellings.

Construction of mirragma gunugurr-wa

The mermaid tail stands four metres tall, its foundry cast from recycled aluminium (engine  blocks) the aluminium is graded to marine grade by the foundry.

The sculpted forms, both the mermaid tail and the raft, were moulded  in ‘hard sand’ the aluminium is cast directly into the sand. The sand casting and recycled aluminium make the the process much more ecologically sound  and energy inefficient compared to lost wax casting.

The mermaid tail weight is approximately 140KG and was cast in 7 sections, then welded together.

Project funding

mirragma gunugurr-wa is funded by City of Darwin.

Additional support for the digital assets has been provided from Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade and Regional Arts Fund Cultural Tourism Accelerator.