Numbulwar Numburindi art centre

Arnhem Land

This project spanned 2 weeks, the first week we sat sharing cups of tea, drawing and having little chats about art process and lives here in Numbulwar. We also went out on country to look at the landscape and see which plants we thought were important to include in the mural.

The women at Numbulwar arts centre use both natural and up-cycled fibres in their weaving. Pandanus from the bush and recycled ghost net- fishing net washed up from the ocean.

The mural begins with a basket weaved from pandanus, wraps around to a line-up of plants and grasses used for dying the pandanus, and near the entry door is the billabong drawn by Rose, one of the art centre managers, with her beautiful water lilies and pandanus. Near the billabong is a buffalo, which was designed by one of the local school children. It wraps around to the big crocodile lazing on the beach under pandanus, and to an ocean scene with animal totems of the women who work in the centre, and plants that are found on the beach. The mural then finishes with a silhouette of a red ghost net.

We chose colours that represent this place. Turquoise and dark blue for the ocean, the yellow for the dye colour and sand. Red for the famous red flag dancers, and pinks of the sunset and earth here.