Bima Wear: Wurrumiyanga (Bathurst Island), Tiwi Islands, NT
In 1969, Sister Eucharia Pearce of the Bathurst Island Catholic Mission sat down with Tiwi women to create a clothing label of their own. They called it Bima Wear. In 1981, Sister Eucharia received an MBE for her involvement; she accepted the honour on behalf of the Tiwi people. More than fifty years later, founding members are still in the workshop at Wurrumiyanga. Tiwi women design the patterns, run the screen-printing frames, cut and sew every garment. They call themselves "the Bima Wear ladies". Bima Wear is a branch of Bima Wear Association, a Tiwi not-for-profit women's organisation, and is 100% Tiwi-owned and operated.
The designs draw from jilamara, the Tiwi tradition of ceremonial body painting, along with motifs representing Tiwi country, bush foods, spirits, and seasons. Fabrics are hand-printed and used for everyday wear, occasion clothing, and ceremonial garments including nagas for men, ceremonial skirts and tops for women, and custom coffin covers for funerals. In 1978 the enterprise incorporated and received a Federal Government grant, establishing a purpose-built workshop. Bima Wear also produces linocuts, etchings, and fine art prints on paper. The Tiwi Islands sit 80 kilometres north of Darwin in the Arafura Sea; the main island, Bathurst, is the fifth-largest island in Australia.
Bima Wear at a glance
- Location: Lot 397 Kerinauia Drive, Wurrumiyanga (formerly Nguiu), Bathurst Island, Tiwi Islands NT 0822.
- Established: 1969, with the assistance of Sister Eucharia Pearce, Bathurst Island Catholic Mission. Incorporated 1978.
- People: Tiwi people of Bathurst Island and Melville Island.
- Art forms: Hand-screen-printed fabric, sewn garments, ceremonial clothing, coffin covers, linocuts, etchings, fine art prints on paper.
- Design tradition: Jilamara (ceremonial body painting), country, bush foods, spirits, and seasonal motifs.
- Organisation: Branch of Bima Wear Association, a Tiwi not-for-profit women's organisation.
