Cultural warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that the following contains the names and voice of people who are deceased.  

Crocodile, barramundi and yabby is a screenprint by Kuninjku artist David Milaybuma in the Parliament House Art Collections.  

David Milaybuma, along with John Bulunbulun (1946-2010), were among the first Aboriginal artists to explore the medium of printmaking. In 1979, the two artists visited Port Jackson Press and produced limited-edition prints. Crocodile, barramundi and yabby is a print from this visit.  

This work references the freshwater lagoons that are considered ‘to be repositories of the souls of the unborn, and the places to which the souls of the dead will return’.¹ The crocodile, barramundi and yabby are freshwater totems of Milaybuma’s clan. He noted at the time of printing that the design on the crocodile was symbolic of its digestive system, recalling the ‘x-ray’ styles of rock and bark paintings.²  

David Milaybuma  
David Milaybuma (1938-1993) was a senior Kuninjku artist working out of Maningrida Arts Centre. Milaybuma was active in the artistic community from the 1960s and was one of the first artists that practiced with Maningrida Arts & Culture after it was established in the 1970s. In 1982, Milaybuma’s work was included on the Australian 27c stamp. His work is held in all major state and national galleries in Australia and in private collections overseas.  

References  
1. Wally Caruana, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, 1993, p59.  
2. Parliament House Art Collections, Call of the Wild: Beasts and Birds from the Parliament House Art Collection Catalogue, 1999, p5.