Yolŋu observe seasons in fine detail, our seasons are not indicated by dates but are signalled by the changing winds, the growth of plants, the habits of animals, the seas and clouds.

Patrina Munuŋgurr and Ishmael Marika , The Mulka Project, 2019.

Rarranhdharr (The Late Dry Season) is a collaboration between Yolŋu artists Patrina Munuŋgurr and Ishmael Marika. In the film, a group of Yolŋu people map the various environments they encounter as they walk on Country at Yirrkala, the ancestral land belonging to the Rirratjiŋu/Gumatj clans. Under Yolŋu Law, the ‘Land’ extends to include the sea, and both are connected in a single cycle of life for which the Yolŋu hold the songs and designs.

As they walk, an aerial drone and a widescreen camera on the land register the types of food that will be ready to harvest during Rarranhdharr (the late dry season). From the stringy bark forests to the sea, they interpret the variation in the vegetation as they move through it. Their knowledge of plants and the locations they thrive in aid them in identifying their distance from fresh water, salt water and food. The film shows how Yolŋu people have navigated their lands for tens of thousands of years and invites viewers to visit their world, be with their people, and experience the time of Rarranhdarr.

"The start of Rarranhdharr is signaled by the blossoming flowers of the stringy bark tree. These blossoms remind us that guku (wild honey) will soon be ready to harvest from the hollows of old stringy bark trees and they tell us that it is time to hunt for maranydjalk (stingray), gurrumaṯtji (magpie geese) and minhala (long-necked tortoise). During Rarranhdharr there are no clouds and the walu (sun) beats down on the ground making it hot to walk on. Water becomes scarce as creeks, rivers and lagoons get close to empty making it easier to collect räkay (reed roots) from the lagoons. Maypal (shellfish) is plentiful and at low tide we chip them away from the rocks and gather the mangrove roots to which the maypal clings. This is also a good time to collect nuts and wild fruits such as the wild apple called larraŋi."

Rarranhdharr (The Late Dry Season) plays at daily intervals between other commissions on the UTS Broadway Screen