Aboriginal and Indigenous Art of the Kimberley: Art Centres of the Kimberley

Art of the Kimberley represents the following Art Centres:

Mankaja Arts

Mangkaja Arts is owned and operated by artists from Western Australia’s Fitzroy Crossing and represents artists from four main language groups. Two of the groups, Bunaba and Gooniyandi, are from areas surrounding Fitzroy Crossing while the Wangkajunga and Walmajarri groups are from areas around the Great Sandy Desert.

Mangkaja Arts supports the artistic, cultural and entrepreneurial aspirations of its members by offering training and skills to young arts workers, sharing the cultural richness of the region with many audiences and creating a strong art enterprise that entitles artists to equitably access national and international markets.

Income from art sales are returned to the artists and their community. The artists of Mangkaja produce vibrant paintings which showcase the variety of their country and story. The meeting of desert and river cultures has created a unique range and strength of artistic expression.

Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre

Built on vibrant artistic expression, Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre is an Aboriginal-owned art centre, managed by a committee of artists. The art centre provides significant returns to many community members through the sale of works of art, with the majority of income returned to the artists and their community. These commercial activities also support important social and cultural activities.

The Mowanjum people comprise three language groups – the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbai. To these people the Wandjina is the supreme creator, and their ancestors have been painting Wandjina and Gyorn Gyorn figures in rock art sites scattered throughout the western Kimberley for thousands of years. This is the oldest continuous sacred painting movement on the planet. Mowanjum people continue to paint the Wandjina image, reinterpreting this astonishing tradition through contemporary practise and mediums.

Unique to the Mowanjum people, Wandjinas have large eyes, like the eye of a storm but no mouth. It is said they have no mouth because their power is such that they have no need for it. They are often depicted with elaborate headdresses, indicating different types of cloud formations. To the Mowanjum people the elegant, elongated figures of the Gyorn Gyorn depict their ancestors from long ago before the Wandjinas brought the law. Gyorn Gyorn paintings in rock art sites have been dated at 20,000 years and are often painted over with Wandjinas and other imagery.

Waringarri Aboriginal Arts

Waringarri Aboriginal arts is a wholly-owned art centre specialising in contemporary collectable Indigenous art of the east Kimberley region. Waringarri ochre paintings present a powerful contemporary aesthetic, interpreting the grandeur of the Kimberley region and the importance of individual artists country and traditional knowledge.

Artists relate images of country, contemporary events, traditional and stories of station life. They comment on the importance of maintaining traditional links to land and culture while exploring a celebration of colour, composition and individualism. The artists only paint with ochre pigments, a crumbly to hard rock heavily coloured by iron oxide. It was the most important painting material used traditionally by Aboriginal people.

Waringarri Aboriginal Arts is situated in Kununurra in the heart of east Kimberley. The art centre was established in the early 1980s by senior artists and elders of the region to promote Indigenous art and culture. It was also established to support artists and their communities. Waringarri, as an artist owned enterprise, returns all proceeds from art sales directly to artists and their community.

Warmun Art

Warmun Art is unique. All canvases are painted using traditional ochres and natural pigments. Displaying a fresh, original and vibrant style, this exciting work transcends cultural boundaries and places Warmun artists at the forefront of contemporary art in Australia. Warmun Art Centre was established in 1998 by leading artists of the Warmun community. The centre is wholly owned and managed by Warmun artists, with income from sales returned to the artists and their community.

Art sales from the Warmun Art Centre provide artists with economic independence and the opportunity to share their Gija culture. The centre operates as a working studio and gallery space, selling direct to the public. Warmun paintings draw on traditional Ngarrangkarni (dreaming) stories as well as contemporary events and life experience of the artists.

The community was home to leading Aboriginal artists Rover Thomas, Queenie Mckenzie and Jack Britten who passed on many of the traditional stories and techniques. The current generation of artists is in high demand and exhibits widely in Australia and overseas.

Contact ~ Brian James ~ manager@artofthekimberley.com or Phone ~ 0408 378 478

Art of the Kimberley, Broome, Western Australia