Goobalathaldin: The moon man Gidigal
Words, voices and images: Connecting to cultures around the world
“Andrea and I began collecting bark paintings in 1975 as we found them to be, not only considerable works of art, but a way of connecting with Aboriginal people in the north of Australia. And that is exactly what happened”.
Bark paintings are remarkable works of art, they are also a page from the book of Aboriginal knowledge. Here we look at the back of a bark painting in the Creative cowboy films collection.
“Dick Roughsey, also known as Goobalathaldin, was a Lardil artist from Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. While his artistic practice had its origins in traditional bark painting, he later transitioned into modern paintings in oil and acrylic and became well known for his illustrated children’s books, winning the Children’s Book of the Year award twice during the late 1970s. His writing and art made him a pioneer cultural educator, and his book Moon and Rainbow (1971) was the first autobiography by an Indigenous Australian. He was appointed OBE in 1978”. QAGOMA July 2019
This is the story of our bark painting that Goobalathaldin wrote in 1965. The story was written on paper attached to the back of the bark painting.
Our story says that the moon from a long time ago or Gidigal was a man who lived all by himself. One song he heard a great cry not very far off and he came near to see what it was. He came and stood by the fire and saw there was meat cooking.
They cut him up with stone axes and took his remains up into the sky and there he is today. When it is in the eclipse that remained reminds us how he was cut up into small pieces so we see him changing all the time and our old folk cry when they see it.
The moon as Gidigal, is also a greedy fellow. At different times of the year our old folks say he stole all our food from the sea such as a fish called Doolnoor or right which we catch with nets. Should anyone point up to the sky and say “look at the moon” then we can’t catch any at all. The old folks have told us that whenever we are unable to get good hunting to also look up at the sky during the day and if you see him, the old man, Gadigal, then you know that he has come to steal.
“Dick Roughsey, also known as Goobalathaldin, was a Lardil artist from Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. While his artistic practice had its origins in traditional bark painting, he later transitioned into modern paintings in oil and acrylic and became well known for his illustrated children’s books, winning the Children’s Book of the Year award twice during the late 1970s. His writing and art made him a pioneer cultural educator, and his book Moon and Rainbow (1971) was the first autobiography by an Indigenous Australian. He was appointed OBE in 1978”. QAGOMA July 2019
This is the story of our bark painting that Goobalathaldin wrote in 1965. The story was written on paper attached to the back of the bark painting.
Our story says that the moon from a long time ago or Gidigal was a man who lived all by himself. One song he heard a great cry not very far off and he came near to see what it was. He came and stood by the fire and saw there was meat cooking.
They cut him up with stone axes and took his remains up into the sky and there he is today. When it is in the eclipse that remained reminds us how he was cut up into small pieces so we see him changing all the time and our old folk cry when they see it.
The moon as Gidigal, is also a greedy fellow. At different times of the year our old folks say he stole all our food from the sea such as a fish called Doolnoor or right which we catch with nets. Should anyone point up to the sky and say “look at the moon” then we can’t catch any at all. The old folks have told us that whenever we are unable to get good hunting to also look up at the sky during the day and if you see him, the old man, Gadigal, then you know that he has come to steal.
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