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Yawkyawk (Mermaid) la Manjelk (Rain) Sari

A beautiful pink discharge dyed cotton silk sari featuring woodblock designs created in 2023 – 2025.

Co-created by Bábbarra Women’s Centre, Maningrida and Tharangini Studio, India.

Marebu (floor mat)  by Raylene Bonson

Manjelk (Rain) by Helen Lanyinwanga

Kundalk (grass) by Deborah Wurrkidj

Yawyyawk (young woman spirit) by Deborah Wurrkidj

Printed in India by Tharangini Studio – Bangalore. This is a limited edition cotton yardage created due to workshops in India in January 2023. As part of their visit to India to open their exhibition, Jarracharra (dry season wind), Janet Marawarr and Deborah Wurrkidj visited Tharangini Studio, Bangalore’s oldest heritage textile studio. Established in 1977, Tharangini is woman-owned and specialises in organic, sustainable woodblock printed textiles. Tharangini’s skilled artisans worked closely with Babbarra in 2022 to hand-carve some of Babbarra’s old linocut designs into woodblocks. This initiative was supported by Kinaway Chamber of Commerce, Victoria and Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation.

Karri-djarrk-durrkmirri means we work together in the Indigenous language of Kuninjku.

Supported by the Australian Government’s Centre for Australia India Relations, this exhibition has been two years in the making. It honours the rich textile traditions of the Indo-pacific Region and tells women’s cultural and ancestral stories in a new way.

80 woodblocks were carved in India based on the lino designs made by generations of Babbarra Women’s Centre artists. They were then printed and embroidered in India in a slow and considered process of briefing and consultation.

Many hands have brought the djang (dreaming) stories of the Maningrida and Djelk region of Arnhem Land alive. Exhibition curators and printers, Anshu Arora and Prithi Pais said:

‘The act of printing is one of careful consideration. It drew us deeper into the meaning and history that saturates every motif. Their deep connection to their landscape opens up a space for reflection in the context of our world today.’

This exhibition honours the cultural heritage of the Indo-pacific region. It celebrates Bábbarra Women’s Centre as they continue to innovate and tell their personal stories through rich textile traditions.

I’m excited to see my Lino design made into a woodblock. We are going to spend Saturday printing with Tharangini Studio. We are going to learn woodblock printing. I’ve been working Bábbarra Women’s Centre for 37 years since it started. I’ve been printing Lino on fabric.’ Janet Marawarr 2023

‘Tomorrow we do printing Yawkyawk (mermaid spirit) and Ngalyod (rainbow serpent). My design is together with my sister. Together, we started working at the Women’s Centre and Maningrida Arts and Culture, taught by our mother and grandmother. My sister is a sick one and she pass on her story to me – Ngalyod (rainbow serpent). I help my sister, I help carry the knowledge for her. That’s why we both have designs being made into woodblock.’ Deborah Wurrkidj 2022