“Niminjarra is the two brothers transforming into a snake so they can come back home to Ngayartakujarra (Lake Dora). They were in training for ceremony, those two brothers, but they were kept too long, and nobody was there to release them. They waited then they decided to transform into snakes to travel back to where they came from, because their mother was waiting for them. This is Jukurrpa (Dreaming story).”
Desmond Taylor, 2019
Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is a cross-cultural collaboration between Warnman artist Desmond Taylor and Boorloo-based textiles practitioner Mariaan Pugh, commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre in partnership with Martumili Artists.
Taylor and Pugh have worked together to transform Taylor’s Niminjarra paintings, usually seen on canvas or paper, into highly tactile textile works, animating the important Niminjarra Jukurrpa (Dreaming).
This body of work is born of Taylor’s desire to see his artworks reimagined through a textile medium and is a contemporary crafting of important ancestral stories deeply rooted in Warnman Ngurra (Country).
Opening:
Please join us in celebrating the opening of this exceptional exhibition on Thurs 8 April at 6pm.
All welcome.
Workshops and Community Engagement: To be announced.
Image credits: 1-2. Fremantle Arts Centre, 2022. Photography by Dan McCabe | 3. Carnarvon Art Gallery, 2024. Photography by Andrew Robertson at DEAS Media | 4. The Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland. Photography by Amelia Blanco | 5. Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery Centre, 2024. Photography by Ashleigh Buchholz.
The Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming collaborative project and exhibition was commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre and presented in partnership between Fremantle Arts Centre and Martumili Arts..
This project is made possible through the Regional Exhibition Touring Boost with funding managed by Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and delivered by ART ON THE MOVE.
The Cannery Arts Centre thanks the State Government of WA for the funding through the Regional Arts Venues Support program supported by Royalties for Regions through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, enabling us to expand our artistic programming to present touring exhibitions.
