Jirrawun Arts was a company and art centre owned by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

, founded in 1998 and operating first from Kununurra and later (2006 onwards) from

Wyndham, Western Australia Wyndham is the northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, northeast of Perth via the Great Northern Highway. It was established in 1886 to service a new goldfield at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre fo ...

. It was notable as the base for

contemporary Indigenous Australian art Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded as beginning in 1971 with a painting movement that star ...

ists of the eastern

Kimberley region The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy Desert, Great Sandy and Tanami Desert, Tanami deserts in t ...

, including Paddy Bedford and

Freddie Timms Freddy Timms (1946, Bedford Downs Station – 2017) was an Australian indigenous artist from the Kimberley region. Life and art Timms commenced painting on canvas in the 1990s at Turkey Creek / Warmun in the Kimberley region of Western Austral ...

. It was also touted as a model for the administration of Indigenous art in Australia. A decision was taken by the owners in 2010 to close the centre and sell its property.

Foundation

Contemporary Indigenous painting in the eastern Kimberley region had its origins in the "prophetic dream" of one of the senior Indigenous stockmen of the area,

Rover Thomas Rover Thomas Joolama (1926 – 11 April 1998), commonly known as simply Rover Thomas, was a Wangkajunga and Kukatja Aboriginal Australian artist. Early life Rover Thomas was born in 1925 near Gunawaggii, at Well 33 on the Canning Stock Rout ...

. Thomas began painting around 1982 and went on to become one of the country's most significant artists. Aided by art workers and advisers including gallerist and art dealer Mary Macha, he also encouraged other community members to take up the brush. These other elders-turned-artists included Queenie McKenzie and

. Jirrawun Arts was founded in Kununurra in 1998. Its genesis lay in a 1996 meeting in Melbourne between gallerist Tony Oliver and Freddie Timms, who "knew that the cheap suit and envelope containing $300 he received after completing a month's worth of painting for a commercial gallery in Melbourne was not a true reflection of his worth". His conversation with Oliver led ultimately to the foundation of a private company, its board headed by Timms and with Oliver as its chief executive officer, the purpose of which was to ensure the financial security of artists who could then focus on their painting. Paintings by Jirrawun Arts members were part of the ''Blood on the Spinifex'' exhibition at the

Ian Potter Museum of Art The Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia was established in 1972. The Potter, as it is known locally, presents a curated exhibition program of historical and contemporary art. Through its activities the Pot ...

, Melbourne University, in 2003.

Expansion, relocation, and closure

Since being founded to assist established Kimberley artists, Jirrawun went on to mentor new younger artists, and to operate as a philanthropic organisation. It supported the Kununurra Youth at Risk Program and a health advocacy organisation known as Jirrawun Health. The board included a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous expertise, and the organisation has in the past received support from the

Argyle diamond mine The Argyle Diamond Mine was a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle was at times the largest diamond producer in the world by volume (14 million carats in 2018), although the propo ...

, located in the region. In 2006 Jirrawun Arts relocated from Kununurra to Wyndham, where it operated out of a purpose-built facility. In 2007 Jirrawun Arts, along with another Indigenous-owned arts company

Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovativ ...

Artists, was praised by an Australian Senate committee for delivering significant benefits to the Indigenous community. Following the death of Paddy Bedford, the owners decided to wind up the business and sell its assets.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book, last=Rothwell, first=Nicolas, author-link=Nicolas Rothwell, title=Another Country, year=2007, publisher=Black Inc, location=Melbourne, Victoria, isbn=978-1-86395-382-5 Australian Aboriginal art Australian artist groups and collectives