Arnhem Land sculptors, particularly from Maningrida like Samson Bonson, specialise in reproducing tall, slender spirits that they call Mimih, ancestral, marine and cosmic spirits from the Dreamtime.

The bodies are covered in latticework and dots that evoke Australian spaces. The heads, with their flat skulls, have a naive appearance that borders on the comical. The Mimihs are terribly thin, with necks so slender that a strong breeze would be fatal. For this reason, they only appear to hunt on windless days and nights. 

The Mimih taught the first humans the skills needed to survive in the rocky environment of the Arnhem Land plateau: how to hunt and shoot game, use medicinal plants, dance, sing and paint.