Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community LaGrange Inc

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Sea Life

“All the fish – barramundi, salmon, dugong, turtle and jellyfish. I paint what I see and eat. Fish of the sea. I paint the right season for them, so if something is in season, I paint it. The threadfin salmon and blue nose salmon come in wintertime. Barramundi is in the hot time, when the jellyfish come out. Dugong is after the rainy season.

I am a ranger and I look after the land and the sea. When it’s hot season, we see jellyfish on the sand and beach – that means it’s the right time for hunting turtles. They’re fat from eating the seagrass and jellyfish. When we see the yellow flowers (wattle) blooming, we know the barramundi are good for catching.

The barramundi stole the pearl shells from the desert and made the creek called Waru Creek, near 80 Mile Beach. There are old fishing camps down that way, and we go with the rangers to do salmon surveys and monitor how healthy they are. When you see the flying clouds and the full moon, it’s the right time for turtle nesting and turtle monitoring. In June and July, they lay their eggs.”

– Elliot Hunter

Elliot is also a Nyangumarta Ranger, working to protect both land and sea. Nyangumarta Country stretches across the coastline and inland desert of the northwest, from 80 Mile Beach through the Great Sandy Desert. It is a vast landscape of red sand dunes, claypans, salt marshes, and long stretches of coastal waters rich with sealife. Fishing is not only part of Elliot’s everyday life but also an important cultural practice that connects him to Country and community. Through his paintings, he brings together his knowledge as a ranger and his lived experience of fishing, showing how the seasons guide when and what to hunt. His artworks celebrate the richness of sea life while sharing stories that have been passed down.

 

Dimensions: 46 x 61cm

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Bush Medicine

“This is a painting about bush medicine. It’s been boiled up. You boil it up and it turns into a burgundy sort of colour. Smells like eucalyptus. It is used for sores, rash, any skin condition. It’s a white gum tree.”
– Georgina Walbidi

This artwork honours the plants and practices of bush medicine — the healing Country provides, the old-people’s knowledge, and the living connection between land and body.

The artist reflects on the medicines found across Country: bark that soothes, leaves for infusions, roots dug after the rains, plants that grow in shade, and wood burnt down to ash for healing. These works often come from memories of learning and walking with elders — watching, smelling, collecting, and preparing medicine with care.

It reminds us that caring for Country is caring for ourselves. Gathering medicine is a cultural act — a moment of respect, listening, and moving gently on Country. This knowledge has been passed down across generations and must continue to be held, practised, and shared.

The painting invites the viewer into gratitude — for the plants, for the Country, for the knowledge keepers, and for the ongoing practice of looking after all life.

Dimensions: 36 x 46cm

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Shoreline

“At night, the sky is filled with the Milky Way and stars. When we go camping, I lie down and watch the stars, the moon, and shooting stars crossing the sky. During the wet season, I see the brolga walking and dancing on the saltmarsh. Along the shore, we must be careful — the sawfish swims in the shallow water, swinging its head side to side. When the tide comes in, the water and life move together, from the mangroves to the creeks and back out to sea.”
 – Tracey Mulardy

This artwork invites the viewer into the world of salt-water Country — the sea animals, the tides, the reefs, the mangroves, the hunting, the gathering, and the guardianship of coast and sea. The artist portrays fish, turtles, rays, dolphins, dugongs, sharks, crustaceans and shellfish, weaving together the patterns of sea-grass, coral, tidal flats, beach and reef.

It tells of families fishing off the beach, children diving in shallow waves, spear hunting, crabbing and catching prawns. It also speaks of wildlife protection — respectful harvesting, ensuring sea animals remain healthy, sea-ranger work and cultural practice.

With flowing patterns, deep blues and turquoise, shell shapes, wave forms and animal tracks, the work echoes the movement of water, tides and life beneath the waves. The artist invites us to listen to the tide, recognise the connection between land, sea, animal and people, and remember that to harvest is also to care — leaving Country strong for those who come next.

Dimensions: 46 x 61cm

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My Ngurra (Country), Jupurr

“My ngurra (home), Juwaliny — my language. My Country Jukurrpa, Yirnpa, Yimiri, Yulpu, Kupankurlu, Lyinjalung, and Lungkarung. Big one warla — that’s the area where the old people belong, ngurra. They been come here and pass away. We come here, Bidyadanga — mummy, daddy, all here. I came from the desert — I sat down in Jigalong, Punmu, Parnngurr, 33 (Kunawarritji), Newman, and I came back here (Bidyadanga).”
 – Yikartu Bumba

This painting shows the artist’s Country in the Percival Lakes region. Yikartu’s daughter, Bali Bumba, was born in this area when they lived a traditional pujiman (desert-born) life. The painting includes lyinji (claypan), jurnu (waterhole), kurru (river), and a big warla (lake).

This artwork depicts Country in and around the Great Sandy Desert — an immense area stretching from the edges of the Kimberley near Bidyadanga and Eighty Mile Beach, east through Walyarta (Mandora Marsh) and Percival Lakes, and down toward Kulyakartu, Kunawarritji (Well 33) and the Canning Stock Route. It is a vast landscape of dunes, claypans, salt lakes and waterholes.

For many families connected to Bidyadanga, this is ancestral land and holds places and significant sites where the old people lived pujiman (traditional desert-dwelling) lives before travelling to the coast.

The Great Sandy Desert is not empty — it is full of life, memory and movement. Soft sandhills rise and fall like waves, spinifex shimmers in the wind, flowers bloom after rain, and jila (living waterholes) lie hidden beneath the surface. People hunted goanna, bush turkey and small animals, dug for water, gathered bush foods, and camped beside claypans. Families walked long distances between soaks, teaching others how to read the land, follow tracks and travel safely.

In painting, the desert becomes a map of belonging — circles showing water and camps, lines following walking tracks and dunes, and soft patterns recalling plants, sand ridges and the glow of sunsets across wide skies. Colours shift between deep reds, ochres, warm sand tones and the greens that come after rain.

Dimensions: 36 x 76cm

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Mangala Country

“I paint Mangala because I love going there. I feel at peace and connected to the old people when I paint this Country. I like painting the flowers, the wet season and the waterholes.

My son is learning to paint. He feels real good and happy when he is painting about Country. I have three little ones and one big son. We went out to Mangala Country and camped with the family — with Jadai mob. The kids love going there. They feel at home, feel safe and at peace.”
 – Marika Jadai

This artwork honours Mangala Country and the families who carry its stories — walking, camping, hunting and gathering across desert edges, river systems and claypans. It remembers old people moving between soaks and sandhills, and later travelling to La Grange Mission (now Bidyadanga), keeping language, law and family strong.

Patterns trace tracks of animals and people; dots and lines follow water after rain; maps, camps, soaks and sandhills. The work also reflects the way caring for Country continues today — through ranger work and community leadership that bring together cultural knowledge and science to look after land and water.

Dimensions: 61 x 91cm

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Bush Desert and Wildflowers at Kulyakartu

“Kulyakartu is my ancestor ngurra (home) through my grandmother and my great-great-grandfather and grandmother. Going out on Country with Nola and Muuki and hearing their stories of Kulyakartu touched my heart — listening to them talk about travelling through Kulyakartu with their mum and dad.

It was an experience for me to see the Country for the first time and to listen to their stories about travelling through the Great Sandy Desert. When I paint about Kulyakartu, it’s like an image in my mind from when I went there. That’s what I paint — the colours and the surrounding sand dunes around Kulyakartu.

I went on a chopper with Muuki, and now I picture the landscape from the air.”
 – Jenny Butt

This artwork shares the story of Kulyakartu, a vast and peaceful area north-east of the community, on the edge of Nyangumarta and Martu Country. Kulyakartu is a place of wide open skies, long claypans, sandhills and soft grasses that come alive after rain.

Families remember camping there, visiting waterholes, looking for goanna and bush foods, watching birds, and travelling with old people who knew every dune, track and soak. The painting celebrates the beauty and calm of Kulyakartu, often shown through soft lines and dots that follow the movement of water and sand. It honours the knowledge of where to find water, how to move across Country, and the deep belonging felt when returning to ancestral places.

Through this work, the artist invites viewers to feel that stillness and connection — the strength of Country, memory and family.

Dimensions: 61 x 91cm

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Kulyakartu

“I paint about Kulyukartu. It’s my grandmother’s Country. I love painting about that Country. I went on a trip doing fire burning, cleaning the waterholes, and walking around looking where my grandmothers carved the rocks and things. I went with my mum Emily, and SJ (Nuriah Jadai). You turn before 80 Mile Beach and just go straight.

I feel good when I’m there — it feels like home when I paint it. I learnt to paint from my grandfather (Wokka Taylor, dec.). When we went to 33 (Kunawarritji, Well 33) and back to Punmu, we were just watching them. He told me to get a brush, and then he told me to start painting. I think him and Dunjan (Thelma Judson) were painting a big one, and I came to help him. He told me, ‘One day you should go to Kulyukartu,’ and so I went there.”
 – Kiarah Mandijalu-Jadai

This artwork shares the story of Kulyakartu, a vast and peaceful area north-east of the community, on the edge of Nyangumarta and Martu Country. Kulyakartu is a place of wide open skies, long claypans, sandhills and soft grasses that come alive after rain.

Families remember camping there, visiting waterholes, looking for goanna and bush foods, watching birds, and travelling with old people who knew every dune, track and soak. The painting celebrates the beauty and calm of Kulyakartu, often shown through soft lines and dots that follow the movement of water and sand. It honours the knowledge of where to find water, how to move across Country, and the deep belonging felt when returning to ancestral places.

Through this work, the artist invites viewers to feel that stillness and connection — the strength of Country, memory and family.

Dimensions: 36 x 46cm

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Desert to the Sea

“I paint from the desert to the sea. I like doing the little details like the plants. I paint my Grandfather’s and Father’s Country – Nyangumarta and Kulyakartu. I’ve been to both places. I used to go out on the weekend with my dad and grandmother and grandfather to go hunting on Nyangumarta Country. Last year I went out to Kulyakartu with my grandfather, on his Country to see where he, his family and extended family used to walk in the desert. I love being out on Country. When I get the chance, it makes me feel good.”
 – Augustine Junior Badal

This artwork reflects the artist’s connection to Bidyadanga, a place where the desert meets the sea. Through colour, pattern, and texture, the painting captures important themes that shape the identity of the community and Art Centre.

Bidyadanga sits on Karajarri Country, where desert Country meets saltwater Country. The community is home to Karajarri people and to desert families who travelled from the Great Sandy Desert to La Grange Mission in the 1960s and 70s, during a time when drought and changing conditions dried desert water sources. The first five language groups to build the community together were Nyangumarta, Mangala, Yulparija, Juwaliny and Karajarri. Today, Bidyadanga continues to grow, welcoming families from across the Kimberley, Pilbara and beyond, creating a strong and diverse cultural community.

Artists draw on stories of place, family, movement, and survival — caring for both land and sea, hunting and fishing, and living between two immense environments. Patterns, marks, and flowing forms echo desert dunes, waterholes, tidal flats, reefs, bushfoods, and sea life, honouring the knowledge held across generations.

In this work, the artist celebrates the beauty of Country and community, offering a glimpse into the rich histories, cultural strength, and enduring connection to land, sea, and way of life.

Dimensions: 36 x 46cm

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Canning Stock Route Area

“This painting is about waterholes in the desert where the old people used to walk from waterhole to waterhole in the Canning Stock Route area. All the colours represent the different wildflowers and the brown is the sand dunes. The circles represent different waterholes.”
 – Bibianna Tumbler

This artwork reflects the histories and journeys along the Canning Stock Route, a place where desert families walked, camped, hunted and gathered long before the line of wells was made. For Bidyadanga artists whose families travelled this Country, the Stock Route is remembered not as a road, but as a pathway of life — water soaks, claypans, sandhills, stories and camps passed down through generations.

The painting holds memories of living waterholes (jila), spinifex plains and salt lakes, places where families met, rested, shared food and continued on. It also speaks to the changes brought with the drovers — movement from desert to mission, cultural resilience, and the strength of families who carried language, story and law across the land.

Patterns, dots and flowing lines reflect walking tracks, dunes, waters and landmarks across Nyangumarta, Mangala and Martu Country. In this work, the artist honours the old people who travelled with nothing but knowledge, and celebrates their legacy — the strength of culture that continues today.

Dimensions: 46 x 76cm

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Nyangumarta Warrarn (Country)

“This painting represents the rocky outcrop and all the different areas of claypans, and the dark area represents all the jurnga (sands) in the cool time, warri. All the light yellowish colour represents the paru (spinifex).

I like to go out working with the rangers and all the elders. I go out Country with them and they show me all the places, all mapped out with GPS. We mark out all the other places for next time. Sometimes I go out in the ranger’s vehicle and walk around the Country and look around for goanna holes. We try to keep an eye on the animals, look out for all the bilby and skinks and everything with the Nyangumarta Rangers. I go in my spare time because I’m busy you know, I’m busy with my artwork and council meetings.

In the cool dry time, when it’s a little bit warm and cool in the morning, that’s when we do the fire patch burning. When we doing it also depends on the wind, the warngal, which way it’s blowing. We do that because it’s a big part of controlled fires. Wild fires, we don’t want them, they destroy the animals and their living area, destroy the Country. We do it too for the regrowth. When I went back to Country a couple of weeks ago, all the burned up area had a little bit of regrowth after a little bit of rain.”
 – Edward Badal

This artwork honours Nyangumarta Country — from the long sweep of Eighty Mile Beach and coastal flats to the rolling sand dunes and salt lakes of the Great Sandy Desert. It holds the movement between saltwater and desert: tides, reefs and mangroves to the west; dunes, claypans and waterholes to the east.

Lines flow like wind across spinifex and waves in the ocean; dots gather where waters sit after rain; colours shift from deep blues to desert reds and whites of saltpan. The painting also reflects the ongoing work of Nyangumarta families and rangers to look after Country — sea and land — guided by community plans and Indigenous Protected Area management.

Dimensions: 36 x 76cm