Painted in the Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) region of Western Arnhem Land
Catholic Missionary Society, Oenpelli 
Private collection, Melbourne
Thence by descent
Private collection, Melbourne


The descriptive label verso reads: Mimi spirits have match-thin figures, with very short necks, for if their necks were long they would snap in a breeze. Namorodos are slightly thicker in build. These tiny spirit creatures live in the rocky escarpments which stretch in an almost unbroken line for hundreds of miles north and south of Oenpelli in Arnhem Land. Paintings of Mimis and Namarodos are prominently featured in the vast natural rock galleries of the escarpments. Mimis are friendly little souls which live within the rocks by day. As soon as it is dark they blow a hole in the rocks and come out to cavort among the rocky escarpments - hunting, fishing, making love, dancing and singing. Towards dawn they retreat into the rocks and pull the door shut after them. Namorodos also live in the rocks and come out at night, but they are unfriendly and naughty, delighting in frightening anyone found wandering or sleeping near the escarpments.