Monday, June 11, 2012

Merlpal Maru Pathanu - Eclipse artwork in the Torres Strait

Artwork and story by David Bosun

Merlpal Maru Pathanu is the terminology most often used by our ancestors to describe either a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse. Merlpal Mari Pathanu in the Maluililgal language (a western Torres Strait dialect) means "the ghost has taken the spirit of the moon." During this period, the head hunters prepared themselves for battle against their enemies, while the women in the other villages took their children and hid themselves in the bush away from their camps, safe from the attacking raiders.

This artwork is currently for sale.

David Bosun (b. 1973) is a Torres Strait Islander of the Kal-lagaw-ya language group.  He has been an active artist since 1997 through the Mualgau Minneral Art Centre in Queensland.


“Merlpal Mari Pathanu” (AAPN id DB011)

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