Please note after serious storm damage in March 2011, Warmun Art Centre currently has only a temporary gallery until repairs are completed.
Gallery hours are 10.30am-2.00pm or by appointment, please contact (08) 9168 7496
Warmun Roadhouse has directions to the temporary gallery space.
WARMUN ART CENTRE was established in 1998 by leading artists of the Warmun (Turkey Creek) community. WARMUN ART is an Indigenous enterprise owned and governed by Gija artists. It is located amid the spectacular landscapes of the East Kimberley and it is this country that is being represented in the unique style of Warmun paintings. Inspired by the oldest stories on earth, Warmun’s Aboriginal art is collected and appreciated the world over. The work is diverse, vibrant and captivating. Visitors to the Art Centre can learn what is behind these dramatic paintings in ochre and how this painting movement began.
Gija artists paint their country using ochres dug from their land. Each canvas is painted with natural pigments hand-collected in the Kimberly and crushed to create a luscious array of earthy tones. Art is a traditional and contemporary expression of land and culture for Gija people. It is an inseparable and celebratory part of Gija culture and country. Warmun art draws on traditional Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) stories as well as contemporary events and the life experiences. Many of the older artists spent their earlier lives as stock men and station workers, walking or riding all over their country
Warmun art has a national and international reputation thanks to the leadership of highly successful Warmun artists like Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie, George Mung Mung and Paddy Jaminji. Their distinctive styles inspire a new generation of Warmun artists to represent Gija art and culture with flare and diversity. Today, renowned artists like Betty Carrington, Lena Nyadbi, Patrick Mung Mung, Mick Jawalji, Mabel Juli, Churchill Cann, Beerbee Mungnari, Gabriel Nodea, Nancy Nodea, Rusty Peters, Shirley Purdie, Madigan Thomas and Phyllis Thomas lead the way for a group of more than 70 younger artists and many of their children.
Warmun artists continue the rich tradition of the East Kimberly painting with ochres dug from Gija country. Artworks represent interrelated experiences of Gija culture, stories of Creation Ancestors, pastoral work and contemporary Gija Life.
WARMUN ART CENTRE operates an artists’ studio and an architecturally designed gallery space displaying and selling outstanding artworks by senior and emerging artists. Buyers can be assured of ethical trading by purchasing directly from the artists through their own art centre. Seeing the Centre’s gallery and learning about Gija art and culture creates an enriching experience for visitors that will stay with them forever.