NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Australia: Top-notch culture classes in the Top End

By Caroline Berdon
Herald on Sunday·
22 Jan, 2017 01:00 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Top Didj art and culture centre in Kakadu.

Top Didj art and culture centre in Kakadu.

Ancient arts entrance keen young pupils, writes Caroline Berdon.

I'm keen for my daughters to connect with indigenous people in Kakadu but, as local artist Selome Djandjomerr explains his tribe's tradition when a family member dies, I'm worried he'll give them nightmares.

My 7-year-old Emmeline's question was innocent enough.

"What's that painted log for?" she asks, pointing to a beautiful, hollowed-out trunk in the foyer of the Crocodile Hotel in Kakadu's township of Jabiru.

"That's where we put the bones of our dead relatives," he explains, nonchalantly, as if telling her how he cooks dinner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He tells her how they lay out the body so the flesh gets eaten, before crushing up the bones, wrapping them in paperbark and putting them in the decorated, hollowed-out log. It is then taken up to the escarpment.

"Then no one can go up there," he adds.

Emmeline looks confused more than anything, and I anticipate questions later.

Thankfully, the tour of his artwork then turns to the didgeridoos and we get a welcome demo.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Like most kids, Emmeline loves the didj. But she was taught in school that girls are not allowed to play it. She asks Selome why.

"Because they will have one too many babies," he replies.

These girls have been brought up with western, factual thinking and taught to question everything. At no time is this more evident than now. Their logic is in stark contrast to the traditions, superstitions and stories passed on to indigenous children.

But there is something that unites all people: art.

Discover more

Travel

Northern Territory: Eat or be eaten in the billabong

22 Apr 11:00 PM
Travel

Dreamtime in Alice Springs

09 Sep 08:00 PM
Travel

Darwin: Inside the Cage of Death

14 Sep 10:00 PM
Travel

Uluru: Light fantastic

26 Jul 08:00 PM

And as Selome roles out his sheet and unpacks his paint and brushes, I see the excited smiles on the girls' faces.

He gently invites them to sit and they watch in wonder as he carves brushes out of water reeds with his pocket knife, cutting away the stem to reveal a five-centimetre length of fibre.

This special brush will be dipped in white, yellow or red acrylic and dragged along the canvas to create the borders and cross-hatching lines typical of the Top End.

Before long, Selome has cut Emmeline and 4-year-old Sasha their own mini canvases, distributed paint pots and brushes and they're all silent at work depicting lizards, snakes and turtles.

Two days later at Top Didj Cultural Experience and Art Gallery in Katherine, they have a much more formal art class from Dalabon tribal member Manuel Pamkal.

Standing in front of a small group, Manuel asks his students to choose an image — it was a turtle for Emmeline and myself and a face for Sasha — and he takes us step-by-step through their creation on canvas, Dalabon-style.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Creating straight, even lines with the long bristle of the water reed brush is harder than it looks, but he corrects our jolts with some black acrylic cover-up and we're all pleased as punch with our paintings.

Afterwards he teaches us how to throw spears and light fires with sticks, and tells us more about him and what makes his life as an indigenous Aussie different from ours.

Emmeline and Sasha are shocked to learn that he's never had a birthday party - he has no idea when he was born.

"I dont care about age," he tells them. "Some people ask me to share their birthday parties and eat cake, but it's not my thing."

He also explains how he refers to his family members: his father's brother is also his "father", like his mother's sister is also his "mother", his cousins are his "sisters and brothers" and his nieces and nephews are also his "sons and daughters".

Keen to show the girls some early examples of Aboriginal art, we take an easy bushwalk while we're in Kakadu to one of the world's most impressive rock art galleries.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Aboriginal artists have painted about their lifestyles on the sandstone rocks of Kakadu for more than 20,000 years.

Here at Nourlangie Rock, there are paintings on top of paintings. This is because the act of painting is generally more important than the final artwork for indigenous artists. It's a powerful way for them to connect with their ancestors.

The girls take great delight in picking out different animal shapes among the layers, and imagining people collecting plant dye before coming to sit under this rock so long ago.

They also love the paintings of spirit men, which, to the traditional inhabitants, all carry distinct personalities. Pictures of some "bad persons" are even banned from publication.

One spirit man looks like a cross between a beetle and a skeleton. This is Namarrgon, or Lightning Man, who local tribes believe still lives in the tall, pillar-like cliffs of the Arnhem Land escarpment above our heads.

We get a good view of the escarpment from a stunning lookout just 20 minutes further uphill. A sign says Namarrgon's home is a sacred place and if he is disturbed, there will be trouble.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The imposing rock face glows red as the sun sinks below the grassy plains and as the girls stare up at it, all wide-eyed and silent, I sense some Aboriginal superstition is starting to rub off on them.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Kakadu and Katherine are both about three hours from Darwin by road. Darwin is about four hours' flying time from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and about three-and-a-half hours from Perth and Adelaide - via multiple carriers.

Staying there: The Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, built in the shape of a crocodile, is in the remote township of Jabiru and exhibits work from local artists, including Selome Djandjomerr. Prices vary.

Playing there: Top Didj Cultural Experience and Art Gallery in Katherine holds two-hour sessions with indigenous artists.

Further information: See kakadu.travelnt.com and www.kakadutourism.com.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM
Travel

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM
Herald NOW

Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

One pass, ten snowy adventures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM

The 2025 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index has been announced.

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM
Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

16 Jun 08:16 PM
Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP