Loriken Poles

HOLLOW LOG-BONE COFFIN

The Hollow log ceremony is one of the most elaborate and richly artistic carried on in Arnhem Land, although little is known about this ceremony in the outside world.

In this post-death ritual, the bones of the deceased are recovered from the grave, painted with red ochre and sung over before being broken up and placed in a specially painted log naturally hollowed out by termites. The log can be thought of as representing the human body and the bones as the soul being readmitted to it’s physical form. As with the body, the log is painted with relevant designs for the ceremony.
The ceremony may take weeks or months to complete the related song and dance cycle and for specific persons to attend and contribute their part to the proceedings.

On the final night, the performances continue throughout the whole night and the following morning the log is carried – or danced – into the ground and left to decay and return physically and spiritually to the environment.

The logs are painted nowadays as sculptural pieces in their own right for outside audiences.
In 1988 Ramingining artists completed 200 dupuns (or burial poles) as a memorial to all those Aboriginal people who died defending their country against the European invaders. This installation is now displayed in the National Gallery of Australia, and was described by the then director of NGA, James Mollison as “One of the most important works of art ever to have been made in this country”

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