"Lharagula Ngididin (Crocodile Trap)"  2022 

Numbulwar Numburindi Arts 

Established 2019 in Numbulwar, Gulf of Carpentaria, southeast Arnhem Land, Nunggayinbala clan Country, Northern Territory.  

Jangu Nundhirribala 
Nunggubuyu language, Nundhirribala clan. Born 1951. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

Rose Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1970. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

May Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1970. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

Jocelyn Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1965. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

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Nicole Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1970. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

Virginia Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1971. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

Megan Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1968. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

 

Joy Wilfred 
Ritharngu and Yolngu language, Wagilag clan. Born 1960. Lives and works Numbulwar, southeast Arnhem Land. 

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Lharagula Ngididin (Crocodile Trap)  2022 

ghost nets and ropes (nylon), pandanus, natural dyes, wood 

 

Courtesy of the artists and Artbank Collection, purchased 2023. 

 

"Lharagula Ngiddin (Crocodile Trap)" is the first major collaboration by Numbulwar Numburindi Arts: Jangu Nundhirribala, Rose Wilfred, Joy Wilfred, Megan Wilfred, Virginia Wilfred, May Wilfred, Jocelyn Wilfred, and Nicola Wilfred. The woven sculpture responds to ghost nets collected along the shores of Numbulwar, where the Rose River meets the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, southeast Arnhem Land. Ghost nets are plastic-based unattached fishing nets and ropes that have been washed away, lost or discarded in the deep ocean and interconnecting waterways largely through industrial fishing. They drift with currents and tides, often entrapping and harming marine life before eventually washing ashore. 

 

Ghost nets regularly converge on the remote Nunggayinbala clan Country of Numbulwar, a site of significant accumulation within the Gulf of Carpentaria. The region’s unique environmental conditions, including its shallow water topography and monsoonal seasonality, create a natural trap for floating marine debris, leading to dense concentration across the surrounding coastline. Like other coastal communities in Australia impacted by this pollution, the Numbulwar Rangers work tirelessly to remove these ghost nets from beaches and mangroves, protecting turtle nesting sites and maintaining the health of their saltwater home. With limited disposal options in this remote region, the nets have presented both challenges and opportunities. The Rangers bring the collected marine debris to the community art centre, where artists weave these reclaimed nets with their naturally dyed maguj (pandanus) into wulbung (baskets) and yir (dillybags).  

 

For "Lharagula Ngiddin (Crocodile Trap)," each artist applied weaving techniques and knowledge learnt through their matrilineal kin. Using locally harvested and naturally dyed maguj with the collected ghost nets, the artists have intricately woven this imagined form, not a traditional hunting tool, but one embedded in a story born from present circumstances. Through this act of creative resistance, the artists transform environmental threats and ocean plastics into a visual and cultural expression of care for the water places that continue to provide and sustain their communities.