Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

Wayuk (Waterlily)

Wayuk (Waterlily) Nymphaea violacea. 

The stem of wayuk is a popular bushfood and the beautiful flower is enjoyed across Arnhem Land. 

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.

Kunmadj and Yawkyawk on bush dye – Major Work

Kunmadj and Yawkyawk on bush dye – Major Work

Rrugurrgurda (mud crab) * Burarra

Bawáliba (Stone Country Mimih)

“Bawáliba is the djang (Dreaming) of my mother and my uncles. They are good spirits, they protect us and they recognise families. They are really tall- just like human beings, like us. They dance late at night and have a lot of hair. In olden times, long long long time ago Bawáliba were here, before people were on the land. Bawáliba used to go out hunting and care for Country. They hunt carrying fish traps and digging sticks, near the homeland ,Djinkarr. They go out hunting on the floodplains with dilly bags and digging sticks. They collect a lot of bush foods, and sleep together with one bark shelter.
Sometimes now they still come alive when we sleep, they might come to our houses and peep through the window. At night, they cover themselves with white clay and red cloth tied around their waist. If we hear them, we jump out of bed and get up to look -but they have disappeared, they’re just too quick. Bawáliba might knock on the window to remind us they are there looking out for us.If you listen deeply, you can hear them whisper, sometimes they talk about us and might say, ‘why are those people making camp here?’ then they realise ‘Oh they are family from here, it’s ok, they are just sleeping here for the night’.

During the day they always turn into stone and they sleep. We still know that green rock covered in moss near Djinkarr, that’s Bawáliba sleeping. Some of my ancestors used to speak the same language as the Bawáliba, but all those old people have passed away now. It’s a little bit sad for us, because no one can speak that Bawáliba language anymore.”

Lucy Yarawanga 2019

Kunkurra (Spiral Wind)

‘My designs, they are all alive living up in my head’- Janet Marawarr

Janet Marawarr has depicted kunkurra, the spiralling wind associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan. On one level, this design can be interpreted as a depiction of the kinds of mini-cyclones common during the wet season in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra also relates specifically to a site called Bilwoyinj, near Mankorlod, on the artist’s clan estate.

At this site, two of the most important Kuninjku creation beings, a father and son known as na-korrkko, are believed to have hunted and eaten a goanna. They left some of the goanna fat behind at the site, which turned into the rock that still stands there today.

Bilwoyinj site is also a ceremonial ground for a ceremony called Yabbaduruwa, a major ceremony owned by the Yirridja patrimoiety. The Yabbaduruwa ceremony is primarily concerned with initiation, land ownership and promoting the cyclical regeneration of the human and natural worlds.

Wayuk (Waterlily)

Wayuk (Waterlily) Nymphaea violacea. 

The stem of wayuk is a popular bushfood and the beautiful flower is enjoyed across Arnhem Land. 

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.

Wak (black crow dreaming) and bush dye

TBC

Wak (black crow dreaming) and bush dye

TBC

Pandanus

This fabric was created using the linocut fabric printing technique, which has been refined at Bábbarra Women’s Centre since it was introduced in the mid-1990s.

The Lino tile is carved by the artist at Bábbarra Designs. It is printed on fabric by hand using a variety of colours and layers. The linocut technique ensures each textile is a one-off, limited edition piece.

The fabric is colour-safe and can be thrown into a washing machine. Repeated use will soften the fabric, and some fading will occur over time. 

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.

‘Themes in our artwork almost exclusively come from our Country and cultural connection. Our deep relationship with the land and seas of our customary clan estates strongly defines and governs the social, cultural, spiritual and territorial aspects of our lives.’

Bábbarra Designs Artist Statement