Our art makes more than a living. Our art is living.
9 -11 August 2013
Welcome to the 7th Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair from the Foundation's Board Members
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Welcome to the seventh Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, held each year on the saltwater coastline of the Larrakia Nation. The Fair has generated an exciting momentum, as Indigenous Art Centres come together from across Australia to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of this diverse landscape.
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1. Arlpwe Art Culture Centre Ali Curung, NT 2. Artists of Ampilatwatja Ampilatwatja, NT 3. Babbarra Designs Maningrida, NT 4. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Yirrkala, NT 5. Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation Ramingining, NT 6. Djilpin Arts - Ghunmarn Culture Centre Katherine, NT 7. Durrmu Arts Peppimenarti, NT 8. Elcho Island Arts Elcho Island, NT 9. Erub Erwer Meta Darnley Island, QLD 10. Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts Gapuwiyak, NT 11. Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre Cardwell, QLD 12. Gunga Pandanus Weavers Darwin, NT 13. Hermannsburg Potters Hermannsburg, NT 14. Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation Haasts Bluff, NT 15. Injalak Arts & Crafts Association Oenpelli, NT 16. Karungkarni Art Kalkarindji, NT
17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.
Keringke Arts Santa Teresa, NT Kira Kiro Art Centre Kalumburu, WA Kulumindini Arts Elliott, NT Larrakia Nation Arts Darwin, NT Mangkaja Art Resource Agency Fitzroy Crossing, WA Maningrida Arts & Culture Maningrida, NT Mardbalk Arts Goulburn Island, NT Maruku Arts Yulara, NT Merrepen Arts Centre Daly River, NT Mimi Aboriginal Arts & Crafts Katherine, NT Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre Derby, WA Mungart Boodja Art Centre Albany, WA Munupi Arts and Pirlangimpi Women’s Centre Melville Island, NT Ngurratjuta Many Hands Alice Springs, NT Numburindi Artists Association Numbulwar, NT
32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 36. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44.
Palngun Wurnangat Association Incorporated Wadeye, NT Papunya Tjupi Art Centre Papunya, NT Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation Bathurst Island, NT Tjanpi Desert Weavers Alice Springs, NT Waralungku Arts Borroloola, NT Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Kununurra, WA Warlayirti Artists, Balgo, WA Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation Yuendumu, NT Warmun Arts Centre Turkey Creek, WA Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation Lajamanu, NT Wirnda Barna Artists Incorporated Mount Magnet, WA Yamaji Art Geraldton, WA Yarliyil Art Centre Halls Creek, WA
The Fair provides a unique opportunity for the public and art industry buyers to meet and acquire art directly from Indigenous owned and incorporated Art Centres. The Fair showcases the work of emerging and established artists, and provides an exciting and dynamic meeting place to listen and learn from many of our Indigenous art leaders, who originate from diverse cultural regions across Australia. There is a range of styles, mediums and products available including: paintings on canvas, bark paintings, works on paper including limited edition prints, sculpture, digeridoos, fibre art and textiles. In 2011, the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair established a Foundation and is proud to announce that the event is formally owned and operated by a membership of Indigenous Art Centres. The mission of the Foundation is to encourage the production of Aboriginal arts and assist with its promotion in an ethical business environment. It is committed to professional development opportunities for artists and arts workers, and to continually contribute to the cultural aspirations of the Art Centres. We look forward to you joining us and celebrating with the contemporary creations of the oldest continuous living culture in the world. www.darwinaboriginalartfair.com.au/about/board
Carved Sculpture from Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts
Image courtesy of Arlpwe Art Culture Centre
Image courtesy of Sonya Ngwarri Petrick, Artists of Ampilatwatja
Image courtesy of Babbarra Designs
Image courtesy of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka
Arlpwe Art CULTURE CENTRE
Artists Of Ampilatwatja
Babbarra Designs
Buku-Larrnggay Mulka
Fine dot-painted landscapes and bright colours are the signature of Ampilatwatja art. The community made a conscious decision not to paint ‘altyerr’ dreaming stories. The artists paint the landscapes where their sacred stories belong and where they have a strong connection with their country.
Babbarra Designs is proudly owned by Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation and operates out of the Babbarra Women’s Centre in Maningrida, Arnhem Land. Babbarra Designs produces lino-printed fabric, and have over thirty silk screen print designs. The sewing team creates unique home wares and clothing. The artists depict the landscape, dreaming stories, spirit beings, bush foods and bush crafts from their country. The variation in subject matter reflects the cultural identity of women from the twelve different language groups in the Maningrida Region.
‘Buku-Larrnggay’ means the feeling on your face as it is struck by the first rays of the sun - this denotes that we are in the most easterly place in the Top End of Australia - Miwatj or the Sunrise country. ‘Mulka’ is a sacred but public ceremony. It also means to hold or protect. Thus we are the North-east Arnhem Land Cultural Centre and Keeping Place. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre has a long and proud history as one of Australia’s premier art centres and Indigenous culture strongholds. The artists of the Centre have established a worldwide reputation for excellence, which is exemplified by their winning of many of Australia’s major Indigenous art prizes.
Arlpwe Art Culture Centre is situated at Ali Curung Township, which is reached by just 22km of all-weather bitumen road in from the main highway from Alice Springs to Darwin. We have a wonderful range of different paintings and authentic artefacts. There are highly collectible artworks by our senior ladies, and if you are looking for an interesting cultural tourism experience, Arlpwe Art Culture Centre at Ali Curung is certainly the place to visit. www.australianaboriginalartgallery.com.au
www.ampilatwatja.com
www.babbarradesigns.com.au
www.yirrkala.com
Image courtesy of Roy Burnyila, Bula’ bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of Mickey Hall Pandanusm, Djilpin Arts - Ghunmarn Culture Centre
Image courtesy of Regina Wilson, Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of David Djarrka Mokuy, Elcho Island Arts
Bula'bula ARTS Aboriginal Corporation
Djilpin Arts - Ghunmarn Culture Centre
Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation
Elcho Island Arts
Ramingining community was established in the mid 1970’s, in North Eastern Arnhem Land. Bula’bula Arts is renowned for its Dupun (Hollow Logs). The Ramingining artists were principal contributors to “The Aboriginal Memorial” – an installation of 200 hollow logs created in 1988, and now on permanent display at the National Gallery of Australia. The centre is also known for its bark and canvas paintings, as well as for its woven dilly bags, baskets and mats.
Based in Beswick Community, Northern Territory, Djilpin Arts operates the Ghunmarn Culture Centre. The artists create an excellent range of limited edition prints, and fibre art and sculptures. The centre also houses The Blanasi Collection, a permanent exhibition showcasing the finest examples of the West Arnhem painting tradition. The Ghunmarn Culture Centre provides award winning accommodation for visitors to Beswick, and has a gallery outlet and cafe in Katherine.
Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation is an independent organisation located in Peppimenarti; 300kms SW of Darwin, and is renowned for its fine contemporary art production. The acrylic paintings are based upon traditional weaving and Durrmu (dot body painting) designs. These works are complemented by the women artist’s premium pandanus and sand-palm fibre weaving work.
www.bulabula-arts.com
www.djilpinarts.org.au
www.durrmu.com.au
Located on Elcho Island in the Arafura Sea, Elcho Island Arts works with a diverse group of artists. They are made up of men and women, young and old, from more than twelve clan groups on, and around, the Island. The centre is known for its fibre works, timber carvings, limited edition prints, handcrafted textiles, and jewellery. www.elchoislandarts.com.au
Image courtesy of EG Weris, Erub Ewer Meta
Image courtesy of Gapuwiyak Culture & Arts
Image courtesy of Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre
Erub Erwer Meta
Gapuwiyak Culture & Arts
Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre
Gunga Pandanus Weavers
Erub (Darnley Island) is a tropical volcanic island located approximately 160km North of Cape York in the North East of the Torres Strait. Erub is home to approximately 400 Meuram people, whose seafaring heritage has traditions in elaborately decorated canoes, carved stone, and intricately made dance costuming and weaponry. Stories of creation and events are passed down through song and dance, keeping cultural traditions and family connections vibrantly alive. Erub Arts Centre has a small but expanding group of artists from four tribal groups.
Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts Aboriginal Corporation is a recent initiative of the remote East Arnhem Land community of Gapuwiyak, also known as Lake Evella. The organisation was created to enhance the wellbeing of the Yolngu people living in the region, by supporting their cultural practices, values and intellectual property. It also provides opportunities for leadership, meaningful employment, and professional development.
Emerging from the rainforest canopy and a culture spanning countless generations, the work of Girringun artists is attracting a lot of attention. The stories and environments of this ancient culture are being transformed into visual images and designs by weavers, painters, potters, textile artists and makers of traditional objects. A continuing close connection to place and honouring of indigenous lore and culture provides inspiration for this work which embraces traditional and contemporary concepts. The Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre, is based in Cardwell, Queensland, and represents artists from nine Traditional Owner Groups.
Gunga Pandanus Weavers are Darwin based Arnhem Land weavers, who take great pride and joy in offering cultural and weaving workshops in the Arnhem Land tradition of pandanus stripping, dyeing, and weaving, to make mats, baskets, dilly bags and fish traps. They also sell these products privately. The weavers offer selected small groups bush tours in the outer Darwin region to introduce people to culture, bush foods, traditional medicine and crafts.
www.erubarts.com.au
www.gapuwiyak.com
www.girringunaboriginalart.com.au
Image courtesy of Gunga Pandanus Weavers
www.girringunaboriginalart.com.au
Image courtesy of Hermannsburg Potters
Image courtesy of Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of Injalak Arts & Crafts Association
Ntaira (Hermannsburg) sits in between the West MacDonnell National Park and the Finke Gorge National Park, 130kms west of Alice Springs. The Hermannsburg Potters are famous for their highly sought after ceramic art. They depict their country as seamless landscapes around the full-bellied forms of the container pots, each of which is guarded by a desert animal or another creature which, as the potters say, is “from our minds”.
Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Injalak Arts & Crafts Association
Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation is an Indigenousowned and operated art centre, located at Haasts Bluff, Central Australia, which is located about 230 km west of Alice Springs. The art centre was founded in 1992 by the late Narputta Nangala and celebrates its 21 yearexistence in 2013. Ikuntji Artists are world renowned for their acrylic paintings on linen, and handmade paper.
www.hermannsburgpotters.com.au
www.ikuntji.com.au
Injalak Arts & Crafts Association is located in Gunbalanya, Western Arnhem Land, and supports more than 300 artist members. Our Kunwinjku artists are renowned for their figurative rock art imagery, including mimih figures, x-ray animals and Djang (ancestral stories) creating paintings on bark and Arches paper, limited edition prints, and hand printed fabrics . Our fibre artists are famous for their exemplary weaving and natural dye techniques, creating Pandanus dilly bags, coiled baskets, contemporary sculptures, and string bags.
Hermannsburg Potters
www.injalak.com
Image courtesy of Rachael Morris Karungkarni Art & Culture
KARUNGKARNI ART The name Karungkarni refers to the Child Dreaming place for Gurindji people, a sacred site imbued with procreative powers. Established in 2011, Karungkarni Art is located in the old powerhouse building at the entrance to the community of Kalkarindji, in the Northern Tanami Desert region. Karungkarni Art exists primarily to strengthen, and pass on the artistic, cultural and historical knowledge of the Gurindji people, and to support the production and sale of artwork by the local artists. It has engendered great pride amongst the artists and local people. www.aboriginalartfair.com.au
Image courtesy of Keringke Arts Centre
Image courtesy of Kira Kiro Art Centre
Image courtesy of Kulumindindi Arts
Image courtesy of Larrakia Nation Arts
KERINGKE ARTS
Kira Kiro Kalumburu Art CentrE
Kulumindini Arts
Larrakia Nation Arts
Keringke Arts has developed its style of painting over a twenty-four year period. The artists use pattern, color, shape and design to create paintings that depict their sense of country, culture, and self. The imagery depicts features common to ancient rock art and petroglyph designs found throughout the traditional country of Eastern Arrernte.
Kira Kiro Kalumburu Art Centre was established in 2009, and is located in Kalumburu, the northern most community in Western Australia. The region is rich in rock art, particularly of the Wandjina and Gwion, or Kira Kiro figures. Arts practice is grounded in the rock art tradition with contemporary practice also including secular themes of sea-life and flora.
www.keringkearts.com.au
www.waringarriarts.com.au
Kulumindini Arts operates out of the Gurungu Women’s Centre of Elliot, Northern Territory. The women print a range of fabric using mainly lino-cutting techniques. The images reflect the artists’ connection to the land of the Northern Barkly and the Barkly stock route. The artists sell the printed fabric in lengths and also make a number of domestic items such as pillow cases, cushion covers, quilts and shoulder bags.
Larrakia Nation Arts (LNA) is a meeting place for Indigenous artists to facilitate the production of art works across the broad spectrum of visual arts practices, that is both traditional and contemporary. The LNA is concerned with helping Australian Aboriginal artists explore, experiment, play, innovate, discover and practice methods and processes that supplements, defines, and showcases, Indigenous cultural knowledge systems in a culturally appropriate and respectful manner. www.larrakia.com
Image courtesy of Claude Carter, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency
Image courtesy of Maningrida Arts & Culture
Image courtesy of Mardbalk Arts
Mangkaja Art Resource Agency
Maningrida Arts & Culture
Mardbalk Arts
Maruku Arts
Maningrida Arts & Culture (MAC) is a vibrant Indigenous Art Centre in Maningrida, Arnhem Land. Established in 1973 as a means to support artists on their homelands, the Maningrida brand has developed into one of the most reputable and sought after in the industry. All art works including bark paintings, fibre sculptures, baskets, fish traps, wood carvings and hollow logs are created in the Maningrida region using natural materials and traditional techniques. MAC provides support and development for artists’ careers and Maningrida’s artists have achieved stunning successes worldwide. MAC continues to support our renowned artists and nurture emerging talent.
Located on South Goulburn Island in West Arnhem Land, Mardbalk Arts supports artists from the communities of Warruwi (Goulburn Island) and Minjilang (Crocker Island). The centre is known for its fibre works, including Pandanus baskets, mats, bottles, wall hangings and sculptures, as well as handcrafted textiles, limited edition prints, timber carvings and jewellery.
Renowned for punu – wood sculpture, Maruku artists specialize in traditional weapons and utensils from across the Central desert region. Sculptures, artifacts and walka boards feature pokerwork designs that are burnt into the wood with hot wire. New mediums, techniques and designs being explored by our artists and will be showcased in Darwin.
www.mardbalkarts.com.au
www.maruku.com.au
Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency is a vibrant Arts Centre, located in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. It was established to support cultural, social and economic development. Representing artists across four language groups – Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri and Wangkajunga, our artists are renowned for their uninhibited style and lively use of colour, painted images of country, and stories of culture and identity. www.mangkaja.com
www.maningrida.com
Image courtesy of Maruku Arts
Image courtesy of Merrepen Art Centre
Image courtesy of Lurick Fordham, Mimi Aboriginal Arts & Crafts
Image courtesy of Kirsty Burgu Wandjina, Mowanjum Art & Culture
Image courtesy of Kelvin Penny Mallee, Mungart Boodja Art Centre
Merrepen Arts Centre
Mimi Aboriginal Arts & Crafts
Mowanjum Art & CULTURE CENTRE
Mungart Boodja Art Centre
Located at Nauiyu in the picturesque Daly River region three hours south of Darwin, Merrepen Arts is a wellestablished Art Centre. Artists are famous for their etchings and printmaking. They also produce cultural artifacts, paintings, and weave with Pandanus to create dillybags, fishnets, baskets, and sun mats. Merrepen artists use a multitude of materials and techniques in their creative expression, and foster a number of established artists. www.merrepenarts.com.au
Mimi Aboriginal Arts & Crafts is an Aboriginal owned and operated, not for profit art centre. Representing artists from the entire Katherine region, Mimi collects artwork from an expansive 380,000 square kilometres; from the Tanami Desert in the west, up to the Kimberley’s and across to the saltwater and freshwater people of Arnhem Land. Mimi’s artwork is as diverse as the lands it represents; styles include painting on canvas or linen, bark painting, fibre weaving, jewellery, didgeridoos, limited edition prints, carvings and weaponry. www.mimiarts.com
To the Worrorra, Ngarinyin, and Wunambal people of Mowanjum Community, which is located 15km from Derby on the Gibb River Road, the Wandjina is the supreme spirit being and Creator of all living things. Wandjina images feature in the rich tradition of rock art of the Western Kimberely, and now in the contemporary art on show at the Art Centre and online. Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre is a non-profit company and is 100% owned and governed by the community of Indigenous artists. www.mowanjumarts.com
Mungart Boodja Art Centre is located three hours drive from Perth in the heart of the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Mungart is the Noongar name for the Jam Tree, the material Noongar people used in the past to make traditional artifacts and bush foods. Today, this traditional creativity is reflected in contemporary works of art at the Mungart Boodja Art Centre, representing Noongar people’s past and present relationships to the land and the Australian bush. www.mungartboodja.com
Image courtesy of Munupi Arts & Pirlangimpi Women’s Centre
Image courtesy of Ngurratjuta Many Hands
Image courtesy of Numburindi Artists Association
Image courtesy of Bridget Bunduck, Palngun Wurnangat Aboriginal Incorporated
Munupi Arts & Pirlangimpi Women's Centre
Ngurratjuta Many Hands
Numburindi Artists Association
Ngurratjuta Many Hands was established by Ngurratjuta/ Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation to provide a place for Aboriginal artists to enjoy a creative activity, paint, and share stories and ideas. We endeavour to create a caring environment to improve the artists selfesteem, and for them to gain financial reward. We are dedicated to working with the grandchildren, and great grandchildren, of Albert Namatjira to continue the “Hermannsburg School of Art”.
The Artists at Numbulwar, located at the mouth of the Rose River on the Gulf of Carpentaria, came together and formed a group they call Numburindi Artists Association. They became ANKAAA members in 2011 and are now looking at incorporating so that they can move forward, and establish a permanent Art Centre on their community. The Artists at Numbulwar are mainly weavers, but paintings and artifacts are also created in the community.
Palngun Wurnangat Association Incorporated
Fly over the Arafra Sea, step onto Melville Island, and you are on the home soil of Munupi Arts and the Marrampayuwu Women’s Centre, indigenous corporations of the Pirlangimpi community. Meeting places that bring community together, they work together to keep Tiwi culture strong, pass on knowledge, and create opportunity. Bring a piece of the tropic paradise back to your home with a handmade print, fibre work, pottery, wood sculpture or fabric, with your sale proceeds going directly back to the artists and their families. www.munupiart.com
www.ngurart.com.au
Palngun Wurnangat Association is an independentlyowned, Indigenous women’s organisation in Wadeye, Northern Territory. The Women’s Centre houses an art space specialising in beautiful hand designed and printed fabrics, created by talented local women artists whose contemporary and traditional designs are inspired by their dreaming and country. http://wadeyewomen.wordpress.com
Image courtesy of Tilau Nangala, Papunya Tjupi Arts Centre
Image courtesy of Tiwi Designs Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of Tjukapati James, Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Image courtesy of Stewart Hoosan, Waralungku Arts
Papunya Tjupi ArtS CENTRE
Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation
Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Waralungku Arts
Celebrating life, creativity and country: Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a vibrant not-for-profit Aboriginal social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council. At its core, Tjanpi is about family and community – about walytja. Aboriginal women come together on country, collect grass, sculpt and weave, sing and dance and keep culture strong while creating beautiful, intricate and whimsical fibre art.
Waralungku Arts is located in Borroloola, Northern Territory, and represents artists from the four different language groups of the region; Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Marra and Gudanji. The artist’s diverse and unique styles reflect not only their own traditional Indigenous cultures, but also the many social and historical influences on this region such as the Maccassan traders, pastoralists and station life, and modern-day mining companies.
www.tjanpi.com.au
www.waralungku.com
Papunya Tjupi Arts, as a result of a huge community effort, was established in 2007. It has since been the site of a renaissance in Papunya painting, whilst also providing employment and training opportunities for the local community. The center is celebrated for its acrylic painting on canvas, and fine art limited edition prints. Papunya Tjupi artists have exhibited widely, and now feature in both public and private collections overseas and in Australia. www.papunyatjupi.com.au
Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation has been a dynamic centre of creativity and culture for the Tiwi people in Nguiu, Bathurst Island, since its early beginnings in 1969. Today the art centre has an international profile, winning the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s Industry and Export award for Arts and Entertainment in 2008. Tiwi Design is internationally renowned for a diverse range of mediums including ochre painting on bark, wood, linen and paper. The artists also create iron wood carvings for final Pukumani ceremonies as well as carving specifically for the art market. www.tiwidesigns.com
Image courtesy of Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
Image courtesy of Warlayirti Artists
Image courtesy of Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of Warmun Art Centre
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
Warlayirti Artists Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation is located in the small Indigenous community of Wirrimanu (Balgo) and is renowned for its vibrant paintings and progressive new media ventures. Servicing approximately three hundred Indigenous artists from Wirrimanu, Mulan and Kururrungku, Warlayirti Artists is 100% Indigenousowned and operated. The Art Centre is a dynamic hub consisting of an Arts Centre, New-Media Centre, and a Cultural Centre.
Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Warmun Art Centre
Celebrating art & culture, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts specialises in contemporary, collectable art of the East Kimberley. Situated in Kununurra, in the heart of Mirriwoong country, Waringarri artists share the importance of country and culture, while exploring a celebration of colour, composition and individualism. The art centre is wholly indigenous owned. www.waringarriarts.com.au
www.balgoart.org.au
Warlukurlangu Artists is based in Yuendumu, about three and a half hours drive north-west of Alice Springs. Established in 1985, it is one of the oldest Aboriginal art centres in Australia. Over 400 men and women make up the membership of the Association. The art centre is 100% Aboriginal owned, and specialises in brightly colored acrylic paintings.
Warmun Art Centre is one of the most significant cultural institutions in northern Australia. Warmun artists are internationally renowned for their unique art practice, making major contemporary paintings in natural ochre on linen, as an enduring expression of Gija Country as identity. Warmun art is an integral combination of Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories, post-contact colonial histories, and contemporary life experience.
www.warlu.com
www.warmunart.com
Image courtesy of Warnayaka Art Centre Aboriginal Corporation
Image courtesy of Winda Barna Artists Incorporated
Image courtesy of Yamaji Art
Image courtesy of Biddy, Yarliyil Art Centre
Warnayaka Art Centre Aboriginal Corporation
Wirnda Barna Artists Incorporated
Yamaji Art
YARLIYIL ART CENTRE
The Warnayaka Art Centre is located in Lajamanu, Northern Territory. We specialise in Indigenous Aboriginal Art. The older Indigenous generation’s artistic style has come from using ochre on the body; a process of meditative application. The work is more than paint on canvas but a meaningful process, producing a bold strong outcome.
Wirnda Barna Artists is Australia’s newest not-for-profit Aboriginal art centre, located on Badimaya and Wadjarri country in Western Australia’s Upper Murchison region. Artists draw inspiration from important cultural sites of the region including The Granites; Wilgie Mia – Australia’s largest ochre mine, Walga Rock, and Western Australia’s largest gallery of Aboriginal rock paintings.
Yarliyil Art Centre, Halls Creek, is located in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Yarliyil Artists work across a range of styles and mediums, representing the rich culture of the land, its history and the people. The main language groups of Yarliyil Artists are Jaru, Kidja & Walmajarri.
www.warnayaka.com
www.wirndabarna.com.au
Yamaji Art is an emerging Aboriginal art centre in Western Australia. We provide professional services for artists with a focus on sustaining cultural maintenance and arts practice in a variety of mediums including painting, textiles, weaving, print-making, design and performance. Yamaji Art represents artists from more than five broad cultural groups from the region: Amangu, Nhanagardi, Naaguja, Badimaya, Wajarri, and Wilunyu. As a contemporary urban based art centre, Yamaji Arts also represents others currently residing in the Geraldton region, including Nyoongar, Yinggarda and Ngaanyatjarra artists. www.yamajiart.com
www.yarliyil.com.au
Cultural Currency: Community Art Centres and Representative Bodies “…. The artwork is so dynamic; it’s so rich and is so prolific. Those stories are still so strong, and those ancestors are still teaching. Those leaders are still guiding, and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair and all the wonderful Art Centres that are represented here … are the facilities that have made this appreciation possible. They are the intermediaries; they are the ones who say to the art sector: ‘Stand back a bit. Let our people do what they need to do.” Franchesca Cubillo Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation Chairperson Senior Advisor, National Gallery of Australia Community Art Centres are often described as an interface between traditional Indigenous cultures and the market place. But this denies a history of complex traditional economies in Australia. The Community Art Centre has been and is still, for many remote Aboriginal people, their first inclusive contact point to the larger global economy. It is also in many cases the only culturally driven workplace on their community that is still governed by traditional law and therefore accessible to all regardless of their educational background and is truly community owned. Community Art Centres defy the perceived “lack of engagement” in employment and professional development on remote communities by providing a culturally relevant community resource. They are not only a production and sales point for cultural
Aboriginal Art Centre Hub Western Australia Level 1, King Street Arts Centre 357 Murray Street, Perth, WA 6000 PO BOX 7012, Cloisters Square Perth, WA 6850 1800 811 883 contact@aachwa.com.au www.countryartswa.asn.au
artefacts and art works but a meeting place and store house for cultural property that continues to persevere through escalating external pressures. The sale of Indigenous Art in the Central and Top End regions began to gain momentum in the 1930’s and started at Ernabella in 1948 and at Yirkala in the 1950’s after the founding of missions. This progressed at Yirrkala to a Yolngu run beach front stall in the 1960’s. These events signified the emergence of Community Art Centres. The foundation of now well known Art Centres such as Ernabella Arts (1974) and Buku-Larrnggay Mulka (1975) were a post script to the trade of cultural products including ceremonies and songsover thousands of years.
Ananguku Arts Level 2 Tandanya 253 Grenfell St Adelaide SA 5000 +61 (08) 8227 2788 gm@anangukuarts.com.au www.anangukuarts.com.au
Association of Northern Kimberley and Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) Frog Hollow Centre for the Arts 56 McMinn Street, GPO Box 2152, Darwin NT 0801 +61 (08) 8981 6134 info@ankaaa.org.au www.ankaaa.org.au
ANCAA (Association of Northern Central and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists), now ANKAAA, was formed in 1987 and was the first peak body for remote Indigenous artists in a period when the Indigenous art “movement” was blossoming. Advocacy, support, training and industry development are the key business of the four major peak bodies in Central and Northern Australia. ANKAAA, DESART, ANANGKU ARTS and UMI ARTS provide these services for Indigenous Artists and Art Centres with direction from strong Indigenous board members, who are themselves artists. These artists continue to drive the sustained success of the industry by building on the foundation of their cultural practice.
Desart 11/54 Todd St Mall (Upstairs in Reg Harris Lane) +61 (08) 8953 4736 admin@desart.com.au www.desart.com.au
UmI ARTS 335 Sheridan Street, North Cairns, QLD 4870 PO Box 1100, North Cairns, QLD 4870 +61 (07) 4041 6152 admin@umiarts.com.au www.umiarts.com.au
50th Anniversary of the Bark Petition The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair and ANKAAA proudly invite you to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions to the Federal Parliament. In August 1963, the Yolngu people of Yirrkala in north east Arnhem Land, sent two bark petitions, which were framed by traditional ochre paintings of clan designs, to the Australian House of Representatives. The famous Yirrkala church panels, now displayed in Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, were the original inspiration for the later bark petitions. The petitions protested the Commonwealth’s granting of mining rights on land excised from Arnhem Land reserve, and asked the Australian Parliament to recognise the Yolngu peoples’ traditional rights, and ownership of their lands. Asserting title to Yolngu country under Yolngu law, the petitions were the first traditional documents acknowledged by the Commonwealth Parliament, and helped to shape the nation’s acceptance of Aboriginal people and their land rights. The bark petitions also show the importance of Aboriginal art as a tool to bring about social change. Today we celebrate a growing contemporary Aboriginal art industry that demonstrates the strong spiritual, and physical, connection that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with their country.
Yolngu elder Dr Gawirrin Gumana AO in front of the Yirrkala Church Panels (1963) at Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, Yirrkala. Image taken on July 10th 2013, during celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions. Dr Gumana is the last surviving of the 16 clan leader elders who collaborated on the church panels. Permission has been granted to reproduce the church panels in connection with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Bark Petition in NAIDOC week 2013. Reproduction is not permitted at other times.
BOOK LAUNCHES AT DAAF 2013
TRADITIONAL DANCERS AT DAAF 2013
Artlink Indigenous: re-visions Artlink is one of Australia’s most celebrated quarterly art magazines. It was established in 1981 by its current Executive Editor, Stephanie Britton AM. It covers the contemporary art of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region through focused thematic issues. Since 1990, Artlink has had a proud history of publishing themed issues on Australian Aboriginal art.
Torres Strait Islander contemporary art, and focusses on the critique of Aboriginal art, its history, and its controversies. New and senior artists, Reko Rennie, Ken Thaiday Snr, Jimmy Pike, Bluey Roberts, Ryan Presley, Badger Bates, Julie Gough, and the obituaries of major artists are featured in the issue. www.artlink.com.au
Artlink Indigenous: re-visions is the third annual mega-issue on developments in Aboriginal and
Kimberley Dancers - Wangga Performance
One Mob Different Country Dancers
It is with great pleasure that the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair presents a cultural performance with dancers from the Kimberley region. The dancers are represented by Mangkaja Arts, Mowanjum Art & Culture, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts & Warmun Art Centre.
The One Mob Different Country is a program that has been operating out of the Darwin Correctional Centre for approximately twelve years. The program allows low-security Indigenous prisoners, who have demonstrated good behaviour, to take part in performing traditional Aboriginal dances at events for community, government and not for profit organisations. The dancers have been given permission from the Elders of the Beswick and Barunga communities, to perform certain dances and songs from that region. The name One Mob Different Country refers to the fact that the dancers themselves may come from different communities (different country) but they come together as a group to dance (as one mob).
The Wangga is traditionally performed as a welcome ceremony and for shared celebration between communities. It is a celebratory and joyous performance that projects high energy and excitement. Regularly performed across the Kimberley region, this dance is a crowd favourite. Danced by men, women, and young people, the performance encourages inclusiveness that looks toward the future.
www.correctionalservices.nt.gov.au/CorrectionalCentres/ DarwinCorrectionalCentre/OneMobDifferentCountry
Warnayaka Art Centre: Life in the Digital Desert Warnayaka Art Centre: Life in the Digital Desert is a collaborative project between the art centre and its artists. It includes several emerging digital media artists, art and anthropology scholars Dr Jennifer Biddle and Dr Barbara Glowczewski (Nungarrayi), curator Christian de Lutz, and Australian, German-based interdisciplinary artist, Gretta Louw.
Warlpiri community of Lajamanu. It features recent digital artwork by Warnayaka Art Centre and visiting artists, and documentation from the European tour of exhibitions, and cultural presentations, that four of the Warnayaka Art Centre artists attended in 2012. www.warnayaka.com
The 100 page, full-colour book covers the landscape, community, and art of the remote
Talking Up Textiles: An Industry Report launch with ANKAAA Travelling with Yarns was an Indigenous Textile Forum that took place in Gunbalanya, Arnhem Land, in August 2012. Designers and textile printers from many remote Art Centres from the Top End travelled to the Forum to share stories and discuss common issues and directions for the industry. Indigenous textile designers produce lively and innovative designs despite significant obstacles such as Art Centres’ distance from mainstream markets and limited access to training and resources. The benefits from the sales of
Indigenous textiles flow back into communities and enhance the Australian design landscape. The forum featured speakers with over 40 years of significant involvement in the Indigenous textile industry, offering their viewpoints on its development. With the support of ANKAAA, the Talking Up Textiles: An Industry Report is a collection of transcripts of the participants’ talks offering a snapshot of a most remarkable creative industry with its full potential yet to be realised. Image L-R, top to bottom: Babbarra Designs, Injalak Arts & Crafts, Palngun Wurnangat & Merrepen. Image of the Kimberley Dancers – Wangga Performance; Photo provided by Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
WORKSHOPS, DEMONSTRATIONS & CULTURAL PERFORMANCE
MEET THE ARTS WORKERS AND THEIR ART CENTRES
Friday 9 August 2:00pm- 4:00pm Ngurratjuta Many Hands: Water Colour workshop
ANKAAA Tours Saturday, 10 August, 12:45pm Sunday, 11 August, 12:00pm & 12:45pm
Saturday 10 August 10:00am-1:00pm Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation: Canvas workshop with artists providing a talk to the public about the iconography of the art. 10:00am-1:00pm Babbarra Designs: Lino-printing on textiles 12:00pm Kimberley Dancers - Wangga Performance 2:00pm-5:00pm Durrmu Arts: weaving demonstration with sand palm using the knotless loop technique.
Desart Tours Saturday, 10th August, 2:00pm & 3:00pm
Sunday 11 August 10:00am-1:00pm Waringarri Aboriginal Arts: Boab nut carving 10:00am-1:00pm Babbarra Designs: Lino-printing on textiles 1:00pm-4:00pm Injalak Arts & Crafts Association: Weaving with Pandanus, and painting with ochres on bark demonstrations
Please meet the arts workers at the ANKAAA and Desart booths at the specific times.
DARWIN GALLERY BUS TOUR The artist workshops and the Darwin Gallery Bus Tour is proudly brought to you by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.
Please take a copy of the August edition of Off the Leash for your Darwin Gallery Bus Tour map! Have a look at the new stands that Off The Leash has commissioned too.
Cover images (Left to Right, Top to bottom) 1. Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation 2. Warmun Art Centre 3. Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation 4. Warlayirti Artists 5. Waringarri Aboriginal Arts 6. Babbarra Designs 7. Arlpwe Art Culture Centre 8. Mimi Aboriginal Arts & Crafts (Lurick Fordham) 9. Palngun Wurnangat Association Incorporated (Bridget Bunduck) 10. Papunya Tjupi Art Centre (Maureen Poulson) 11. Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation 12. Tjanpi Desert Weavers (Tjukapati James) 13. Waralungku Arts (Stewart Hoosan) 14. Durrmu Arts (Regina Wilson) 15. Elcho Island Arts (Megan Guruwiwi) 16. Maningrida Arts & Culture 17. Munupi Arts and Pirlangimpi Women’s Centre 18. Merrepen Arts Centre 19. Mardbalk Arts 20. Maningrida Arts & Culture 21. Kira Kiro Art Centre 22. IIkuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation 23. Erub Ewer Meta 24. Injalak Arts & Crafts Association 25. Artists of Ampilatwatja (Sonya Ngwarri Petrick) 26. Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts 27. Karungkarni Art 28. Keringke Arts 29. Hermannsburg Potters 30. Larrakia Nation Arts 31. Mangkaja Art Resource Agency 32. Mungart Boodja Art Centre 33. Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre (Kirsty Burgu Wandjina) 34. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka 35. Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation (MaryDhapalany) 36. Durrmu Arts (Nayia Wilson) 37. Ngurratjuta Many Hands 38. Karungkarni Art (Pauline Ryan) 39. Erub Ewer Meta 40. Maruku Arts 41. Yamaji Art 42. Girringun 43. Gunga Pandanus Weavers 44. Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts 45. Yarliyil Art Centre 46. Elcho Island Arts 47. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka 48. Numburindi Artists Association
PUBLIC FORUMS, LAUNCHES, & TOURS Friday 9 August 3:00pm-4:00pm Artlink INDIGENOUS revisions magazine launch Saturday 10 August 10:00am-4:00pm Bus tours of Darwin Galleries 10:00am-12:00pm ANKAAA & DAAF celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bark Petition Where: Meeting Room 1, Darwin Convention Centre 10:00am-10:10am Introduction: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Bark Petition and its Impact on Aboriginal Contemporary Art. Christina Davidson, CEO, Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists Aboriginal Corporation (ANKAAA) 10:10am-11:00am The Yirrkala Bark Petitions in the broader Context of Arts Practice in Arnhem. Franchesca Cubillo, DAAF Chairperson & Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Australia 11:00am-11:45pm The Land and Sea Can’t Talk – We have to speak for them: Salt Water – Bark Paintings of Sea Country and the Blue Mud Bay Sea Rights Case Djambawa Marawili AM, ANKAAA Chairman *Footage filmed by the Mulka Project (the award-winning Indigenous media company at Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land) of the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Bark Petitions celebrations, will be played in the ANKAAA booth from 10-5pm 1:15pm Talking Up Textiles: An Industry Report launch with ANKAAA 2:00pm-4:00pm Graduates of the ANKAAA Arts Worker Extension Program (AWEP) deliver presentations about their work at their Art Centres at the ANKAAA booths SUNday 11 August 10:00am-4:00pm Bus tours of Darwin Galleries 11:00am-12:00pm Warnayaka Art Centre: Life in a Digital Desert Book Launch Details of this guide are correct at the time of printing but are subject to change in the event of unavoidable circumstances
9 -11 August 2013
DON WHYTE PICTURE FRAMING
HALL 1 & 2, DARWIN CONVENTION CENTRE, DARWIN Waterfront OPENING TIMES: Friday, 9th August, 1pm – 4pm • Saturday, 10th August, 10am – 5pm • Sunday, 14 August, 10am – 4pm
www.darwinaboriginalartfair.com.au