Partnering with remote Indigenous Art Centres to deliver a landmark digital project that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to create and share unique arts and cultural experiences with the world.
Partnering with remote Indigenous Art Centres to deliver a landmark digital project that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to create and share unique arts and cultural experiences with the world.
Marrawuddi Arts and Culture is a beautiful Community Arts Centre located in Jabiru in the heart of the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park. Marrawuddi is owned and governed by Mirarr Traditional Owners through their organisation Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation. The strength of the ancient, evolving and continuing Kakadu and West Arnhem culture is evident in the art of Marrawuddi.
2 Gregory Place, Jabiru, NT, 0886
Born: 1980
Region: Jabiru
Graham Rostron is a cultural teacher, artist, dancer, musician and song man who lives in Jabiru. He was a Telstra NATSIAA finalist in 2022.
Born: 2000
Region: Jabiru
Corben Mudjandi, a Traditional Owner of Mirarr Country in Kakadu National Park, is an emerging analogue photographer. Corben’s contemporary images include candid photos of family, friends, local happenings and landscapes out bush. Corben has exhibited at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne in 2022, and in 2023 was the recipient of the Agency Artist in Residence program to travel to Sicily to participate in the FARM Cultural Park Countless Cities Biennale.
Born: 1966
Region: Aliyu, Tiwi
Irene Henry is known for carving cockatoos and bird sculptures from Ironwood with her partner, Harold Goodman. Having grown up in Tiwi, Irene now lives in Kapalaga, an outstation near Jabiru.
Born: 1979
Region: Kabulwamamyo
Clarrie Nadjamerrek, born to Ruth Gamarrawu, senior Mirarr Traditional Owner and Ralph Nadjamerrek. Clarrie has grown up in Kakadu National Park all of his life, staying between Mudjinberri and Jabiru. Clarrie has worked with Gundjeihmi’s Djurrubu Rangers for most of his adult life, becoming a senior voice for Mirarr people.
Born: 1997
Region: Murrumburr
Aysha Alderson, a young Murumburr Tradition Owner of the Cooinda region in Kakadu National Park, has lived in Kakadu all her life. Aysha’s artistic influence has come from her surroundings and her love for river systems. Aysha’s keen interest in hunting and fishing on country, transcribes through her print making and experimental ink works. Representing weather systems, the stone country and river ways throughout Kakadu.
Born: 2000
Region: Mirarr
Ray Mudjandi, from Mirarr and Western Arrernte clans is an aspiring young artist living in Djibbiyak in the heart of Kakadu National Park. Mudjandi’s work is a perfect balance between contemporary and traditional art, he works with his elders who teach him old traditional ways, whilst putting his urban spin on traditional styles.
Born: 1959
Region: Barrihdjowkkeng
Melba has had an incredibly rich life in exhibiting her skills through her talent for weaving, sculpting and painting. Early on around 2006, Melba and her partner [dec.], James Iyuna were commissioned to create a large-scale work for the Darwin Entertainment Centre. Having lived in Maningrida, Melba now chooses to live in Jabiru.
Born: 1978
Region: Mumeka
Roberta Wurrkidj comes from the renowned Wurrkidj family of the Gurrulk clan. Having been taught by mother, Melba Gurrawanga and stepfather dec. James Iyuna. Roberta often paints her djang (dreaming), Dilebang & Wak Wak (Crow Dreaming), both in which are sacred stories and sites surrounding Maningrida where Roberta often stays.
Region: Mirarr
Rosie Mudjandi is a Mirarr Traditional Owner living in Djibbiyak in the heart of Kakadu National Park. Her son, Ray Mudjandi is an artist at Marrawuddi Arts.
In 2024, a Yolŋu-led initiative brought together traditional knowledge and modern conservation efforts to address the ecological challenges faced in Yolŋu Country. Bula’bula Arts, in collaboration with The Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation (ASRAC) and…
Hayden Jinjair Wilson is a Tyemirri artist from Peppimenarti, his languages are Ngangi’Kurungurr & Murrinh-Patha. Ngangi’Kurungurr (Ngangi’Tyemirri) is the language of the Peppimenarti area and Murrinh-Patha is the main language spoken through most of the…
The news of Noli’s win was as serendipitous as it was exciting. Our travel had already been booked; Noli and his older brother Ian Rictor had tickets to…
My name is Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni, I come from a long line of people of the Tiwi Islands. We trace our ancestors back through story to Purukuparli and his Mother Murtankala – the original…
I first met Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni while working with Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair as one of the curatorial delegates in 2017. I was tasked with assisting an art center to set up a stall,…
Victoria and Southeastern Australia are lands steeped in the complex tapestry of Indigenous histories and identities. These narratives, forged in the crucible of colonial devastation and contemporary cultural resurgence, tell tales of resilience and renewal.
The art centre’s mission is simple: to support and celebrate Indigenous artists and their communities through arts and culture. In many remote communities, the art centre is a thriving hub of activity where generations of…
Distance. Outlines. Boundaries. Maps give us context between places. Yet they exist in tension with the way that First Peoples understand kinship and country. Our mapping is alive and relational. It’s something we practise, with…
Bábbarra Women’s Centre (Maningrida) and Tharangini Studio (Bengalaru) are together redefining the boundaries of traditional artistry with their ground-breaking woodblock textile collaboration. In 2023, senior Kuninjku artists, Janet Marawarr and Deborah Wurrkidj from Bábbarra…
Across Aranda Country, the continuation of culture through art making is alive and ongoing.[1] Guided by the teachings of ancestors and kin, and a resounding urge to depict Country in the manner of…
In early 2022, we received a call from the senior curator of Indigenous and Australian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Myles Russell-Cook, who had seen a weaving by Indra Prudence at the previous…
“There isn’t a more skilled set of peoples to find in rural and remote communities than those in the art centres so the easiest way to learn about anything to do with that area is…
Artists at Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre are Western Aranda people and paint their Country using the watercolour techniques passed on by Albert Namatjira down family lines, known as the Hermannsburg School of painting. The Country…
Sitting in the shade at Angurugu Women’s Art Centre, a group of Anindilyakwa women listen to visitors who have travelled far to meet with them on Groote Eylandt, located in the Gulf of Carpentaria in…
Nestled alongside the Musgrave Ranges in Pukatja community in the remote north-west of South Australia, Ernabella Arts on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands is the oldest continuously running Indigenous art centre in Australia. In…
Fibre art holds a deep and venerated tradition within Yolŋu culture and the weavers of Arnhem Land, with the core material used being Gunga (Pandanus spiralis). The Rrambaŋi (Gunga Mat) installation at the 2023…
Song rings out through the art centres as an Elder sings the story of the Country they are painting, renewing their Country while teaching the story to any in earshot; sometimes when this happens people…
UPLANDS is an immersive digital project that has been designed to celebrate Indigenous Art Centres and share Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic and cultural practices with the world.
This large scale immersive digital mapping project features over twenty remote Indigenous Art Centres, and interviews with over 150 Indigenous artists and arts workers from across the country.
UPLANDS is a project by Agency and has been funded by the Australian Government through the Restart to Invest, Sustain and Expand (RISE) program and the Indigenous Visual Art Industry Support (IVAIS) program.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Sovereign Custodians of the land on which we live and work. We extend our respects to their Ancestors and all First Nations peoples and Elders past, present, and future.
