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Lajamanu Women’s Painting Workshop and Book Launch, CCAP, COFA | The College of Fine Arts
Lajamanu Women’s Painting Workshop and Book Launch, CCAP, COFA | The College of Fine Arts
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Lajamanu Women’s Painting Workshop and Book Launch, CCAP, COFA
Article released: Monday, 02 April, 2007
(Lajamanu Warlpiri women with Dean Ian Howard, Associate Professor Jill Bennett, and COFA students)L- R: Myra Nungarrayi Herbert, Rosie Napurrurla Tasman, Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves and Molly Napurrurla Tasman.
From the13th until the 23rd of March, five Warlpiri women from Lajamanu in the Northern Territory
participated in a painting workshop at a Studio provided by the Centre for Contemporary Art and
Politics, College of Fine Arts. The artists were: Rosie Napurrurla Tasman, Molly Napurrurla Tasman,
Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves, Myra Nungarrayi Hargraves and Lynette Napangardi Tasman.
Their visit was sponsored in conjunction with CCAP and COFA, by a joint ARC grant held by Dr.
Jennifer Biddle (Macquarie University) and Assoc Prof Robyn Ferrell (University of
Melbourne).
The aim of the workshop project was to explore issues relating explicitly to Warlpiri women’s
artistic practices, including the processes of the incorporation and professionalisation of
contemporary art.
The format of the 10 days was designed to maximise a creative and supportive research
environment while taking into account the difficulties for research participants to be absent from
country and community for long periods.
The exclusive focus on women and women’s art redressed the historical imbalance of the
predominance of male artists and male representations of the Dreaming as currently available in
exhibition catalogues, coffee table books and academic publications. Lajamanu Warlpiri artists, and
Lajamanu women artists in particular, have been under-represented in major art exhibitions and
collections.
In comparison with other Desert communities, Lajamanu artists have been less well supported
within the community and within larger art marketing processes. The workshop redressed this history
by providing a culturally appropriate and supportive environment for the specific and sole purposes
of Lajamanu women’s art production.
On 23rd March, the women exhibited their artworks in the COFA foyer gallery at the
launch of a research monograph by Dr Jennifer Biddle, entitled Breasts, Bodies, Canvas: Aboriginal Art as
Experience (University of New South Wales Press, 2007).
22 works on canvas and paper were exhibited, as well16 stunning works executed on boards, in
traditional ochres brought down for the occasion, including yulkurrukurru, (ceremonial dancing
boards), and parraja shaped boards (coolamons used for collecting seeds and other flora, as well as
for carrying babies).
This major women’s collection is currently being stored by Macquarie University for further
exhibition and documentation.