Kira Kiro Artists, Kalumburu, north Kimberley, Western Australia
The rock art galleries around Kalumburu hold figures known to the Kwini people as Kira Kiro, or Kirri Kirri: spiritual beings said to have been painted onto the stone by the beak of the Sandstone Strike Thrush using blood from the tips of its wings. Senior artist Mary Punchi Clement, known for her intricate depictions of the region's flora, fauna and associated stories, gave these figures to the art centre as its name. Kira Kiro Artists was established in 2009 on Kwini Country at Kalumburu, the northernmost settlement in Western Australia, with ongoing assistance and co-management from Waringarri Aboriginal Arts in Kununurra. Arts practice had long been a cultural and economic activity in the community, with individual artists and families selling through private dealers for decades, but the formation of a recognised art centre gave artists a structure for developing their practice, protecting their rights and promoting their work ethically to national and international collectors.
Kalumburu sits on the King Edward River, 550km north of Kununurra, accessible only via the unsealed Kalumburu Road off the Gibb River Road or by light aircraft. The community is home to Wunambal and Kwini people and was established as the Drysdale River Mission by Benedictine monks from New Norcia in 1908, relocating to its present site in 1937. On 27 September 1943, Japanese bombers attacked the mission, killing the superior Father Thomas Gil and five Aboriginal community members. The mission was renamed Kalumburu in 1951. The surrounding country is among the richest in rock art in the world, with galleries of Wandjina and Kira Kiro (Gwion Gwion) figures across the Mitchell Plateau and King Edward River escarpments. Kira Kiro Artists' practice is grounded in this tradition: artists paint Wandjina, Kira Kiro and Ungud figures alongside secular themes of sea life, land animals, bush tucker and medicinal plants. They work in natural ochre pigments on canvas, bark and paper, and are skilled boab nut and slate engravers. Betty Bundamurra, who has worked at the art centre since its inception, was selected for the Art Gallery of Western Australia's Desert River Sea Visual Arts Leadership Program.
Kira Kiro Artists at a glance
- Location: Kalumburu Community, King Edward River, north Kimberley, Western Australia, 550km north of Kununurra
- Language groups: Kwini and Wunambal
- Established: 2009; co-managed with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Kununurra
- Art forms: Natural ochre painting on canvas, bark and paper; boab nut and slate engraving; cultural artefacts
- Subjects: Wandjina, Kira Kiro (Gwion Gwion) rock art figures, Ungud; bush tucker and medicinal plants; sea life and seasonal flora
- Notable artists: Mary Punchi Clement (naming artist), Betty Bundamurra (Art Gallery of WA Desert River Sea Visual Arts Leadership Program), Mary Teresa Taylor
- Getting there: Via unsealed Kalumburu Road off Gibb River Road (4WD recommended); also accessible by light aircraft from Kununurra. Community permit required.
