Origin: Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

The northern region of Australia has witnessed the development of original artistic practices, with woodworking playing an important role among Aboriginal artists. Made with natural pigments, its body is covered with a criss-cross pattern, or rarrk, which emphasizes its sacred nature; and the distribution of the rarrk in various zones separated by lines dotted with dots suggests that the painting is actually revealing the fish's interior. This "X-ray manner" is a way for Aboriginal painters to symbolize the revelation of the Dreamtime secrets hidden in the entrails of the mythical beings who then appeared: now apparent, their meaning remains coded and accessible only to the initiated.Stéphane Jacob runs the gallery Arts d'Australie - Stéphane Jacob. Expert in Aboriginal Art (C.N.E.S.), co-author of the catalog of Aboriginal paintings in the collections of Lyon's Musée des Confluences and of the book "La peinture aborigène" published by Editions Scala. A signatory of the Australian Indigenous Art Code, he has been working since 1996 to promote contemporary Australian Aboriginal art and artists.