Jenna Mayilema Lee, maan-ma danala: birdim-ba (language dillybag: steady persistent rain), 2025, mixed media, 2:55 min looped sound, dimensions variable © Jenna Mayilema Lee
Voice: Chris Lee
Field recording: Sage Lee
Sound production: Kim Choo
Poetry commissioned for the work by Mackenzie Lee
This installation by Jenna Mayilema Lee captures the respite offered by the first rain of Balnba – the beginning of the wet season in Larrakia/Darwin. Lee describes this as a time ‘When the tension of the oppressive heat and cloying humidity of Dalirrgang or “the build-up” is finally severed, and the clouds release their treasure of sparkling rainwater.’
The season’s birdim-ba (steady persistent rain) heralds the germination and fruiting of many plants, as well as the presence of dawirrba (electrical storms) and gulppula (the green tree frog), precipitating growth, change, refreshment and purification.
Lee animates these seasonal shifts through paper sculptures and a soundscape with recordings of Larrakia/Darwin rain taken by her sibling and her father whispering the Larrakia word ‘birdim-ba’. The cloud-like cluster of dillybags and daisies that appear to sprout from below are made from pages of Aboriginal words and place names (1977) – a dictionary compiled by AW Reed that misrepresents the true breadth, depth and nuance of Aboriginal languages. Lee transforms this material through cutting, pulping and bookbinding techniques to assert the enduring and interconnected strength of First Nations languages, knowledge systems, and Country.
Voice: Chris Lee
Field recording: Sage Lee
Sound production: Kim Choo
Poetry commissioned for the work by Mackenzie Lee
This installation by Jenna Mayilema Lee captures the respite offered by the first rain of Balnba – the beginning of the wet season in Larrakia/Darwin. Lee describes this as a time ‘When the tension of the oppressive heat and cloying humidity of Dalirrgang or “the build-up” is finally severed, and the clouds release their treasure of sparkling rainwater.’
The season’s birdim-ba (steady persistent rain) heralds the germination and fruiting of many plants, as well as the presence of dawirrba (electrical storms) and gulppula (the green tree frog), precipitating growth, change, refreshment and purification.
Lee animates these seasonal shifts through paper sculptures and a soundscape with recordings of Larrakia/Darwin rain taken by her sibling and her father whispering the Larrakia word ‘birdim-ba’. The cloud-like cluster of dillybags and daisies that appear to sprout from below are made from pages of Aboriginal words and place names (1977) – a dictionary compiled by AW Reed that misrepresents the true breadth, depth and nuance of Aboriginal languages. Lee transforms this material through cutting, pulping and bookbinding techniques to assert the enduring and interconnected strength of First Nations languages, knowledge systems, and Country.
