ngurra
Ngurra are the places we came from, our Country. We came to the mission from Kiwirrkurra, from Canning Stock Route, from Mulan lake Country. All the different families. All now to this Country we call Balgo.
Eva Nagomara, Senior Artist
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Ngurra kutjuwarra: on country, together
12 march–05 april, 2021
In conjunction with Kidogo Art House, Fremantle, WA
This is a fundraising exhibition! All works in the below gallery can be viewed at Kidogo Art House in Fremantle. Proceeds go towards Warlayirti’s Motika Tjukurrpa: Help Balgo mob get a new Troopy! fund. All artworks for sale by enquiry to director@balgoart.org.au.
Click artworks for details
Scroll down below gallery to read more about this exhibition.
For the Warlayirti Artists, the act of painting is more than just painting landscapes or earning a livelihood. It is about connection, remembering and keeping ancient Country and Tjukurrpa (creation stories and lore) alive. To paint is to sustain life.
Most of the senior artists painting today grew up in the Missions, a long way from where their ancestral Country lies, deep in the Tanami and Great Sandy deserts. An ever-shrinking number of Elders were born in the bush and grew up traditional way. Families’ ability to go back to this Country is hindered by the remote and rugged terrain as well as cost and access to resources. There is a generation of young people who have never walked on their ancestral Country, while there are still living libraries around, time is of the essence to return families to Country and rejuvenate the karrunpa [spirit] of Balgo.
This year Warlayirti Artists will be setting out on a 1,500km journey to do just that, go back to Country. We will be packing canvases, paints and swags, and hitting the road for a three-week adventure through deep desert Country. Sharing stories, teaching, learning and mapping Country through the act of painting.
This exhibition tells the story of the diverse Country we will be traversing, from the vast saltpans of Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) to the mammoth rolling sand dunes of Helicopter Tjungurrayi’s Country of Puntutjarpa (Jupiter Well). Paintings of bush tucker, bush medicines and soak waters that never run dry, essential for life in the desert. Artists young and old are represented in this exhibition, all painting with their own unique Balgo style.
We are sharing our stories with you in the hope that you can help us get back to Country and continue our story.
It has been over 10 years since Warlayirti Artists have ventured through this land, and it has been just as long since we had a new troopie (the only way to get anywhere in the red centre).
Proceeds from this exhibition will contribute to our motorcar dreaming fund.
All artwork enquires to director@balgoart.org.au