Current Exhibitions

JILA KUJARRA: TWO SNAKES DREAMING

Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is an exciting 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).

“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

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).

The dynamic intercultural collaboration between Desmond Taylor and textiles practitioner and educator Mariaan Pugh continues the practice of cultural and creative exchange, driven by Taylor and other Martu artists through Martumili Artists, sharing narratives and understandings of the world from the Great Sandy, Little Sandy and Gibson deserts with national and international audiences.

To see more click here

Jilla Kujarra is now touring with Art on the Move:

February 16 - April 12, 2024

Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery & Visitor Centre

April 19 - April 28, 2024

Victoria Park Centre for the Arts July

18 - August 24, 2024

Warwick Art Gallery (QLD)

January 17 - February 23, 2025

Goldfields Arts Centre

Revealed 2024!

This year the annual Revealed Exhibition returns to Fremantle Arts Centre in collaboration with the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of Western Australia (AACHWA.)

The exhibition celebrates the diversity, talent and passion of contemporary Aboriginal Art practice in Western Australia.

Known for championing new and emerging First Nations artists, in 2024 there are 42 artists featured in Revealed for the first time – the highest number of emerging artists that have featured in the exhibition since its inception.

Martumili is thrilled that Sharon Porter, Kennedy Finlay and Lynette Rowlands will be amongst those exhibiting.

Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle

Opening Thursday 9th May

10th of May - 4th of August

To find out more click here 

Kujungka (all together in one) Exhibition

Martumili Artists are excited to announce the opening of our next exhibition Kujungka and the Warrarnku Ninti Celebration presented by Martumili Artists and Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa in partnership with Tura.

From Fri 5 – Mon 8 July, the Newman Gallery and East Pilbara Arts Centre will be transformed into an immersive audiovisual experience, responding to the uniting theme of kujungka (all together in one).

Warrarnku Ninti (knowledge of Country) is a multi-year partnership project initiated by Martumili Artists with Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa, culminating as a series of themed-based arts and cultural bush camps with distinct exhibition outcomes. Kujungka is the third exhibition in this series, and encapsulates the spirit of collaboration and Martu’s collective determination to work together as a community, as families, as language groups to keep Country and culture strong into the future.

The Warrarnku Ninti Celebration aligns with the opening of Kujungka as well as providing the opportunity to show case a significant Tura and Martumili partnership, supported by BHP: Kulininpalaju (We Are Listening!). The weekend of activity will feature three distinct sound pieces composed from the Kulininpalaju sound archives, which consist of 100+ hours of audio recordings contributed to by over 25 Martu and Tura artists made during on-Country developments across Punmu, Parnngurr, and Kunawarratiji.

Coming together in one spectacular show, animated projections developed by Sohan Ariel Hayes in collaboration with Martu artists will activate the rich stories detailed in the paintings of Judith Anya Samson, Muuki Taylor, Nola Taylor, Bugai Whoulter, Cyril Whoulter, and Corban Clause Williams, bringing liveliness and movement to the stories that over countless generations colour the landscapes of Martu Country.

To find out more about the weekend of programming, click here.

--

The Warrarnku Ninti Celebration has been made possible with funding from Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, BHP, Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support, the Shire of East Pilbara and with support from RMIT School of Art and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.