L Judy Mengil R Waringarri Arts
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts: Kununurra, East Kimberley, WA
Dora Griffiths remembers sitting with Mignonette Jamin every day as a young woman, watching her paint. Jamin, who carried the female Whipsnake Dreaming stories of her Miriwoong country, juxtaposed bright reds on leaf greens and baby pinks on sienna in bold circular forms. Queenie McKenzie, the renowned Gija artist who also painted at Waringarri, had been the first Kimberley artist to experiment with mixing ochres to produce the unusual pastels the centre became known for. By the time Jamin passed away in late 2010, that practice of mixing ochres across a wide tonal range had become central to Waringarri's identity. Established in the early 1980s by senior cultural leaders of the East Kimberley, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts is the first Indigenous-owned art centre established in Western Australia and one of the oldest continuously operating art centres in Australia.
The ochres used at Waringarri are sourced from Miriwoong country — white and yellow clays, ancient coral sea bed deposits, compounded oxide-stained earths — found in sacred locations and crushed by hand. The practice draws on the Ngarranggarni, the Miriwoong Dreaming, which underpins the connection between the artists and their country. Rover Thomas, one of the most significant Indigenous artists of the twentieth century, regularly painted at Waringarri and represented Australia at the 1990 Venice Biennale. Peggy Griffiths received a fellowship from the Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts and represented WA in the Great Australian Landscape Project at the Biennale of Australian Art in 2018. The centre supports more than 100 artists and also encompasses Kira Kiro Artists, a remote satellite centre in Kalumburu on the northern Kimberley coast. The Dawang Gallery presents selected works from the Waringarri collection alongside multimedia presentations on Miriwoong cultural identity. Waringarri won gold at the 2024 WA Tourism Awards.
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts at a glance
- Location: 16 Speargrass Road, Kununurra WA 6743. 2 minutes from town centre, opposite Kelly's Knob lookout.
- Established: Early 1980s. First Indigenous-owned art centre in Western Australia.
- People: Miriwoong people of the East Kimberley. 100+ artists.
- Art forms: Natural ochre painting on canvas and paper; boab nut engraving; wood carving; printmaking; ceramics; textiles; sculpture.
- Notable artists: Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie, Mignonette Jamin, Judy Mengil, Peggy Griffiths, Dora Griffiths.
- Satellite centre: Kira Kiro Artists, Kalumburu, northern Kimberley coast.
- Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am–4.30pm; Saturday 10am–2pm (wet season hours).
- Phone: +61 8 9168 2212
