Activities
The art centre is a busy, vibrant space which is the cultural hub of the community.
Making Art
The primary activity of the art centre is the production of acrylic paintings on canvas. The art centre regularly conducts professional on-site painting and print workshops for the artists.
Professional development workshops provide an opportunity for the artists to learn new skills and techniques, experiment with different media and vary their regular routine, have fun and develop their practice.
Over the years the artists have worked in collaboration with printmaking studios Northern Editions and Basil Hall Editions to produce many limited edition, fine art prints. These prints are available for sale through this website.
Warlukurlangu Artists has also worked with Batchelor Institute to conduct on site workshops in painting and drawing.
School holiday children’s workshops are very popular. The children are taught by senior artists to paint their traditional designs and learn the stories associated with the designs. They produce small paintings which are available for sale.
The art centre also organises governance and ‘money story’ training.
Cultural Maintenance
The maintenance of Warlpiri culture and its transfer to the next generation of Warlpiri people is a key element of Warlukurlangu Artists mission which states:
Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association is the guardian of the Jukurrpa, the law and culture of the Warlpiri and Anmatyerre people living at Yuendumu.
Warlukurlangu aims to ‘keep the culture strong’.
Warlukurlangu provides a forum and support base for cultural and social activities within the community.
Warlukurlangu provides a means for the economic empowerment of the Yuendumu community, through the provision of services to its member artists for the production, marketing, and distribution of their visual arts and crafts.
The art centre supports community cultural activities such as the young men’s annual initiation camps by supporting families and providing ceremonial materials such as ochre, feathers and hair string. When people pass away the art centre often supports the ‘sorry camps’ by providing food, water and money for blankets.
For many years Warlukurlangu has supported a school holiday cultural maintenance program. Children practice their traditional designs and learn the stories associated with them as well as earning a little bit of pocket money.
Warlukurlangu art centre is proud of its painting and story archive, possibly one of the best in the Australia. Since 1986 every painting has been sold with an accompanying certificate of authenticity. Each certificate tells the story of the painting and has the artists and painting details. These records are a valuable cultural resource and an important repository of local Jukurrpa (dreaming stories).
Warlukurlangu Artists organizes annual ‘bush trips’ to country. Many people are no longer living on their traditional lands and these trips allow artists and community members to reconnect to their traditional culture and country. The artists value these trips highly. They may be simple day trips, or more ambitious journeys travelling hundreds of kilometres to specific sacred sites. This connection to country reinvigorates and inspires the artists painting practice.
Travel
Warlukurlangu Artists provides artists with opportunities to travel interstate and overseas to attend exhibition openings and other events in order to share their culture with interested audiences. These trips are an opportunity for the artists to see first-hand how their paintings are received.
The artists enjoy visiting new places and meeting new people. These trips also provide an insight and appreciation into the promotion and marketing of their artwork in the context of the wider Aboriginal art industry.