Thursday 15 August: Kimberley Art

Today we are at Warnum (once known as Turkey Creek) on the lands of the Kija people. We are staying at a small camping site at the Warnum Roadhouse. 

The arrival of pastoralists in the last two decades of the nineteenth century had an enormous impact on the lives of the Kija. Kija territory was usurped by the forming of cattle stations. Through over-grazing, the cattle destroyed the ecological balance of the country. Sacred waterholes were despoiled. New thoroughfares were cut across the traditional Dreaming Tracks marked out by the ancestors. It is estimated that about half the Aboriginal population of the East Kimberley were murdered in the first fifty years of colonization.  (http://www.ngalawarmun.wa.edu.au)

One of the surprises to us are the number of galleries and community art centres we have come across, including at Broome, Derby, Halls Creek, and here in Warnum.

We spent most of the morning at the Yarliyil Art Centre in Halls Creek. Some art work is on the gallery fence, possibly painted on car bonnets, which is a popular medium, apparently. 

The last work is by Janet Dreamer. A hundred of her works are to be exhibited at Mornington Peninsula Gallery and will be well worth the visit. 

Tomorrow we will look in at the Warmun Art Centre.

And an update for those keeping count: today our windscreen was chipped by a flying stone. We will have to wait until Katherine, next week, to see if it can be repaired.

1. Lyn15 August 2024 at 22:37

   Oh no another mishap . But not too major . The artwork is brilliant. Good luck with the windscreen repair.

   REPLY
2. 
   Marama17 August 2024 at 22:22

   Stunning art, and thanks for sharing the important history