Kalumburu is that spot on the map in the furthest North of WA, on the tip of the wild and beautiful Kimberley. It is where the Wandjina gaze through you from the rocky ledges and Kwion go about their complex lives, pecked into the galleries by the bloody beak of a small bird. It is where the Kwini have walked the land and fished and hunted in the mangroves and lived alongside the Julinya, the Jarnba, since the beginning. In 1908 there was a mission at Pago, relocated in the 1930’s to Kalumburu where people were moved into tiny tin houses, taught to work, schooled and bombed by the Japanese. Several were killed. Some people stayed on the other side of the river and remained there until the 1970s, making ceremony and living a halfway life.

Kalumburu is now a complex mix of several tribes: the Kwini, Walumbi, Klarri, (Woonambal, Gambura), Ngarinyan, Bardi, Jarbi and many others. Within these lie both Catholic and Traditional culture. Taught one way by the Mission and pulled another by the implementation, or lack thereof, government policy; their language is not spoken in the street, and the ceremony dances are only performed once yearly at the Mission's anniversary (Our Lady of Assumption Feast Day). However, cultural power is stored in the land, beyond the reach of politics, and you can feel it in this new work.

When I arrived here in May 2009 most of these artists had never painted before, Lilly Karadada being the obvious exception, as the senior painter, and only surviving artist who made a name for the community many years ago. The first of the new works painted directly referenced cave paintings, which have become natural store houses for an astonishing number and variety of paintings that are dotted over the land: large and powerful Wandjina paintings, complex Kwion galleries set on ledges, a small Gulangi (cyclone) painted in isolation on the path to a larger painting site, a Namarrga (baby cradle) sitting on the exposed edge of an overhang used for smoking ceremonies to cleanse babies and, of course, many animals curled onto the rocky surfaces.

Mary 'Punchi' Clement was the first person to paint with me. Her mother was the artist Ignatia Djangarra who has passed away now. Surprisingly, Mary had never painted before and her response to her first works were “oh, that’s ugly”, followed by a generous toothy laugh. She really warmed my heart at a time when I seriously wondered what I was doing in Kalumburu. That warmth is transferred to her works, which are full of life and colour, often described as psychedelic; a visual feast of layered story. The real beauty of humanity oozes from her works which are made with such clarity. She becomes empty and allows her stories to “appear on the board”.

Mary was joined by Mercy and Betty who both began by painting Wandjinas, a subject that tends to be a safe starting point for most of the artists. The Wandjina is still featured in many of these works, yet there is so much more to be found. Painting has become an expansive exercise in design and story and these artists have branched onto their own paths in exploring colour, placement and theme, far removed from the often formulaic works associated with Kalumburu in the last few years. And then Mary Tailor turned up. From the start she was special in the manner with which she used paint. One of the works in this show is amongst her first, as are the works featured here by Gwen Clarke.

We now hope that all of this painting will keep going and that the artists are considering naming the art centre. After one year it has become a part of every day life and people are now ready to own it. We want to call it Balinyirri after the black cockatoo. We want to honour the old people who have passed away by continuing to make these stories.

Chris Durkin,
 Coordinator