Kuninjku artist, Lucy Yarawanga, was born in 196 in the Maningrida Region of the Northern Territory. She is an emerging textile artist as well as an office worker at Bábbarra Women’s Centre. Lucy often references her ancestral stories in her textile work, including Buwaluba (woman spirit). Lucy is from the Gurr-goni language group – one of the least commonly spoken language groups in Arnhem Land.
In a video, made by the Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics in association with Bábbarra Women’s Centre and The Batchelor Institute, Lucy spoke of one of her recently completed textile works and experience as an emerging artist at Bábbarra Women’s Centre. She states, “This print is from my mum’s dreaming. I got the meaning from my mum, she told me when she was alive. My mum’s language is Kunibídji, she and her father are from here, and my father is from Maninigrida, my father talks Gurr-goni. This is the one, where I started. In my language we call this Bawáliba. That’s my mum. People used to sit around and sleep, a long time ago, when I was nothing, when we were nothing, they used to sleep, camp, and then a big rainbow serpent came. He was hungry, and then he ate them all. And after that some other things came up again, all the little babies of Bawáliba. They changed themselves in stone, it’s still there at that place. I didn’t used to do lino printing in a good way, but now I do it in a good way, and I’m happy with this family here. When I first printed it was alright, but a little messy. After that they were teaching me how to do it and I watched them, and I saw how they did it. I said ‘I’ll try and get another fabric.’ And I did. Then I started doing it in a good way, and right now I’m doing it good. Raylene (Raylene Bonson) taught me how to do it in a good way. She was telling me all this and that and I saw what she was doing, and I started doing it in a good way. After that Ingrid came and said, ‘you’re doing good now.’”
Janet has also featured as one of the emerging artists in a group exhibition, Báb-barra: Women’s Printing Culture at The Cross Art Projects (2017) [http://www.crossart.com.au/current-show].
Reference List:
Bábbarra Women’s Centre. “Lucy Yarawanga.” Bábbarra Women’s Centre. Last modified 2017. https://babbarra.com/artist/lucy-yarawanga/.
CALL Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics. “Bawáliba: Lucy Yarawanga.” Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics. Last modified 2017. https://call.batchelor.edu.au/film/bawaliba-lucy-yarawanga/.
- Writers:
-
emma_sheehan
- Date written:
- 2017
- Last updated:
- 2017
