Regina Wilson, Wupun (Sun Mat), 2021, acrylic on linen, 198 x 396 cm, Michael Reid Berlin
Durrmu Arts: Peppimenarti, West Daly Region, NT
In 1973, Regina Pilawuk Wilson and her husband Harold Wilson became the first Ngan'gikurrungurr people to leave the Catholic mission at Port Keats and return to their ancestral country. The community they founded, Peppimenarti ("large rock"), is an important Dreaming site for the Ngan'gikurrungurr people, set amid wetlands and floodplains 300km southwest of Darwin. On the mission, people had been forbidden to speak their language or practise their culture. At Peppimenarti, they could do both. In 2001 Wilson founded Durrmu Arts and has served as Chairperson since. Durrmu is a Tyemirri word for the dots used in ceremonial body painting, still painted on men and women for ceremony today.
Regina Pilawuk Wilson was born in 1948 at Wudikapildyerr in the Daly River region. She learned to weave from her grandmother, and took up acrylic painting in 2001 when Durrmu Arts was established. In 2003 she won the General Painting category of the Telstra NATSIAA for a golden syaw (fish net) painting. Her work is held in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, QAGOMA, the British Museum, and private and corporate collections in Australia and overseas. The art produced at Durrmu Arts centres on durrmu dot designs translated onto canvas, along with traditional fibre work including wupun (coil baskets), warrgardi (dilly bags), and syaws (fish nets). Printmaking workshops have also been a part of the programme, with editions produced in collaboration with master printer Basil Hall. The Nimbi project, an ongoing digital repatriation initiative, works to return Ngan'gikurrungurr cultural material held in overseas collections back to the community.
Durrmu Arts at a glance
- Location: Peppimenarti Community, West Daly Region, NT. 300km southwest of Darwin via Daly River and Wadeye road. 4WD required. Dry season access only (May to November generally).
- Permit required: Northern Land Council. Phone 08 8931 5500 or visit nlc.org.au.
- Established: 2001, founded by Regina Pilawuk Wilson.
- People: Ngan'gikurrungurr people of the West Daly region.
- Art forms: Durrmu dot painting on canvas; fibre weaving; wupun (coil baskets); warrgardi (dilly bags); syaws (fish nets); printmaking.
- Notable artist: Regina Pilawuk Wilson (born 1948). Telstra NATSIAA General Painting winner 2003.
