March 2022

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Bush Yam Leaf

This fabric was created using the linocut printing technique. The lino tile was carved by the artist in Maningrida and printed by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile piece is a one-off, limited edition piece. Bábbarra Women’s Centre supports the economic independence of Indigenous women in the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, Northern Territory, Australia. Designs created by the women at Bábbarra reflect strong cultural knowledge, which is passed down to younger generations through their textile design practice.

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Bush Flower

Belinda is an emerging young artist, with a good eye for colour layering. Belinda has strong skills in hand carving lino designs, a medium through which she often depicts significant natural plants from her mother’s country (the central desert). Belinda’s mother is from Eastern Arrernte country near Alice Springs, the community of Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), and her father’s country is Maningrida. Belinda speaks languages from both sides of her family, as well as various languages belonging to Central Arnhem Land. She lives in Maningrida and prints lino at the women centre. Belinda is also a strong leader for young people in her community. Created August 2018

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Yam Leaf

‘Hi, my name is Belinda and I like coming to work every day because I love printing. I’m printing yam leaf and some other designs. We eat yam because it’s a bush tucker, like a sweet bush potato.’ Belinda Kernan 2021 Belinda is an emerging young artist, with a good eye for colour layering. Belinda has strong skills in hand carving lino designs, a medium through which she often depicts significant natural plants from her mother’s country (the central desert).

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Bush Flower

Belinda is an emerging young artist, with a good eye for colour layering. Belinda has strong skills in hand carving lino designs, a medium through which she often depicts significant natural plants from her mother’s country (the central desert).

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Bawáliba (Stone Country Mimih)

‘I feel good waking up in the morning, knowing I am going to Bábbarra. After work I go home and talk about my printing with all my family, and then I dream about it too. I am always thinking about my designs. They make me feel so proud.” – Lucy Yarawanga. This fabric was created using the linocut printing technique. The lino tile has been carved by the artist in Maningrida, and has been printed by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile piece is a one-off, limited edition piece. Bábbarra Women’s Centre supports the economic independence of Indigenous women in the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, Northern Territory, Australia. Designs created by the women at Bábbarra reflect strong cultural knowledge, which is passed down to younger generations through their textile design practice. A dark blue cotton with pink, grey and red ink.

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Bawáliba (Stone country Mimih)

‘I feel good waking up in the morning, knowing I am going to Bábbarra. After work I go home and talk about my printing with all my family, and then I dream about it too. I am always thinking about my designs. They make me feel so proud.” – Lucy Yarawanga. This fabric was created using the linocut printing technique. The lino tile has been carved by the artist in Maningrida, and has been printed by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile piece is a one-off, limited edition piece. Bábbarra Women’s Centre supports the economic independence of Indigenous women in the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, Northern Territory, Australia. Designs created by the women at Bábbarra reflect strong cultural knowledge, which is passed down to younger generations through their textile design practice.

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Romolo (Green Frog)

One of Lucy’s latest linocut designs, Romolo, green frog. Lucy is an experienced textile artist at Bábbarra Women’s Centre. Lucy often references her ancestral stories in her textile work, including Bawaliba (Djinkarr spirit woman), with various lino and screen prints depicting this same narrative. Lucy is from the Gurr.goni language group – one of the least commonly spoken languages in Arnhem Land. Lucy also speaks another eight Maningrida languages.

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Bawáliba (Spirit Woman)

This is the Dreaming of my mother and my uncles. These spirits are called Bawáliba. A long time ago they used to go out hunting. That’s in Ranger station near the airport (mum and uncle from further this way to Jingarr). Their homeland. They used to go out hunting with dilly bags and digging sticks. They used to collect a lot of bush foods, and sleep together with one bark shelter. Sometimes they come alive when we sleep, they come in the house when we sleep and peep through the window and we looked them with white clay (gapan) and red cloth tied around. We get up to look but they have disappeared. They are really tall. They are like human beings, like us. They dance and have a lot of hair. They are carrying fish traps and digging sticks. They are good spirits, they protect us and they recognise families. They might knock on the window to remind us they are there looking out for us. You can hear them whisper, sometimes they talk about us and might say, ‘why are they making a house here?’ Then they say to each other, ‘This family are from here, its ok, they are sleeping here for the night’. During the day they turn into stone and they sleep. When you see that green rock, that’s Bawáliba. Striking Báwaliba print with orange, yellow, black, blue and white on green fabric.

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Bawáliba (Spirit Woman)

This is the Dreaming of my mother and my uncles. These spirits are called Bawáliba. A long time ago they used to go out hunting. That’s in Ranger station near the airport (mum and uncle from further this way to Jingarr). Their homeland. They used to go out hunting with dilly bags and digging sticks. They used to collect a lot of bush foods, and sleep together with one bark shelter. Sometimes they come alive when we sleep, they come in the house when we sleep and peep through the window and we looked them with white clay (gapan) and red cloth tied around. We get up to look but they have disappeared. They are really tall. They are like human beings, like us. They dance and have a lot of hair. They are carrying fish traps and digging sticks. They are good spirits, they protect us and they recognise families. They might knock on the window to remind us they are there looking out for us. You can hear them whisper, sometimes they talk about us and might say, ‘why are they making a house here?’ Then they say to each other, ‘This family are from here, its ok, they are sleeping here for the night’. During the day they turn into stone and they sleep. When you see that green rock, that’s Bawáliba.

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Bawáliba (Stone country Mimih) and bush flower

‘I’m a screen printer and a lino printer and I’m from Maningrida, NT and my age is 60. I was born here in Maningrida and I schooled here. I have four children but I lost one of them and I have 6 grandchildren. I want to do more screen printing but I prefer the small screens. I prefer lino printing because I like to stand tall and it physically feels better. I quit smoking in 2020 and I would like to tell other women to stop smoking and do more exercise.!’ Lucy Yarawanga This fabric was created using the linocut printing technique. The lino tile has been carved by the artist in Maningrida, and has been printed by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile piece is a one-off, limited edition piece. Bábbarra Women’s Centre supports the economic independence of Indigenous women in the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, Northern Territory, Australia. Designs created by the women at Bábbarra reflect strong cultural knowledge, which is passed down to younger generations through their textile design practice. Blue cotton fabric with moody tones of brown, teal, pink, yellow and green.