FEATURE STORY JAN/FEB 2019
Desert River Sea at the Art Gallery of WA

“Bidyadanga artist Daniel Walbidi, strictly known as a painter, has explored multi-media for the first time by producing a video work for the show. As a companion to this he’ll also recreate the work in the gallery space using salt and pigments, though his subject matter remains the same.”

Walbidi’s subject matter is a story of maintaining culture. Though born in coastal Bidyadanga, 250km south of Broome, his parents were enticed from the Great Sandy Desert to help build cattle stations. Walbidi grew up hearing the Dreaming stories associated with the vast desert, and of the waterholes filled with ‘living water’ created by his ancestors. Now Wirnpa – the jila (living water), is a central motif in his practice. Wirnpa is both a salt lake and a Serpent Man who is a powerful creation spirit. His sons accompany him in the creation story, the figures represented in Walbidi’s work as waterholes in a salt lake.

For Desert River Sea, Walbidi’s video records the recreation of Wirnpa on the coast using salt and pigments. Waves encroach on the emphemeral work, inferring a merging of his desert ancestry and coastal life, exploring the idea of permanence and flux of Country and culture. Walbidi was named among the Top 50 of Australia’s Most Collectable Artists in Australian Art Collector in 2011. He has exhibited around Australia and the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Galatis says there has been a push by older people to explore new mediums. “The savvy older people realise younger people aren’t going to sit and paint and they need a shift in mediums. They say, ‘we need to use new technologies so our stories remain intact. That’s what this exhibition is about – art centres remaining relevant within their community, and I think it’s great AGWA has been able to encourage that.”

In an area with ongoing debates about the land and its use by mining companies, agriculture and tourism, Galatis says there is so much happening that people are in a constant state of flux. “Old people say art was the only tool they had to fight with, and in a way art centres have been a tool to educate and fight for Country. It’s easy to forget the Kimberley has a long history of being very political through art.”

She says art centres remain a constant for artists in an otherwise uncertain world, but they are severely underfunded. “We are one of the most underfunded states in terms of remote art centre funding. Most people don’t know what an art centre does and the difficulties presented to them on a daily basis. I hope audiences leave knowing a bit more about the logistics of delivering artwork within these parameters.”

The project started with an AGWA outpost in Broome as a liaison point. In the last 12 months both Lane and Galatis have made several visits to the Kimberley to answer questions from artists. “Stopping an art centre to make a body of work for an exhibition is not something art centres do because they don’t have the staff and ability to support that, so AGWA was able to offer that support to make new experimental work. That could be from mixing paints through to making cups of tea – making sure the environment was right for people to experiment within blocks of time,” says Galatis.

As a result of the project she hopes other institutions will look to art centres and remote artists to participate in self-driven exhibitions. She says they have successfully approached experimental commissions, and have something to say which is not aligned to the usual dialogue arguably about culture and the Dreamtime, which has fueled a commercial market. I hope other institutions in Australia see the model as valid. It just costs more and takes more time and effort, and institutions have a lot less control. I think it’s quite difficult for people to enter into that framework of operating.”

Lane says the show aims to be something more than the aesthetic value of the work. “We wanted them to be personally meaningful to the people who participated in the show, including the curators. It has been an unknown landscape we’ve journeyed together. It’s not just an exhibition for Aboriginal artists, but with Aboriginal artists.”

She says excitement is building as the exhibition draws closer. “Everyone is very excited. There are about 60 artists coming to Perth for the show, many of whom will participate in the opening weekend cultural celebration.”

Participating artist Darrell Sibosado from Lombadina encourages visitors to the show: “A lot of people don’t know these art centres exist. People have some idea of what Aboriginal art is, but you have people working in the middle of nowhere with nothing, but creating really amazing work based on stories from thousands of years ago. That’s the awesome thing for me.”

“I hope people come away from this show with a clear understanding Aboriginal culture is alive, and it’s now.”

Desert River Sea: A Portrait of the Kimberley is on show at the Art Gallery of WA from 9 Feb – 27 May.

Opening Weekend Cultural Celebration: 10am-5pm, Saturday 9 February 2019 | FREE

A celebration of Kimberley art and culture with artist talks, art demonstrations, cultural performances, and family activities. Learn about the art of pearl shell carving with the Sibosado brothers – Darrell and Garry, and bush-dying with natural materials with Eva and Ivy Nargoodah.

Hear from Mowanjum Arts on ochre crushing and Wandjina Rock art education, or watch Mervyn Street of Mangkaja Arts carve and shave a cow hide. Waringarri Aboriginal Arts will demonstrate boab nut carving. AGWA and art centre curators, along with artists will talk about their experiences across the day. Listen to live music by David Pigram and browse handmade items including carved pearl shells, dyed silks, textiles, and jewellery at the AGWA Shop.