Aboriginal owned Ninuku Arts is located in the tiny community of Kalka, nestled amongst the Tomkinson Ranges in the north-western corner of the APY Lands. Ninuku Arts represents some of the most renowned artists on the contemporary Aboriginal art scene, whose aesthetically diverse works are as rare and prized as the bilby from which the art centre takes its name.
Mangkaja Arts is a thriving, Aboriginal-owned and governed art centre based in the township of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Established in 1981 as a place to learn English— it has morphed into a renowned art centre known for its vibrant use of colour and its contemporary works on perspex. Mangkaja Arts represents artists across five language groups – Bunuba, Gooniyandi and Nyikina of martuwarra (river country) and Walmajarri and Wangkajunga from the jilji (sand hill country) of the Great Sandy Desert.
Located in Parnpajinya (Newman) in the Eastern Pilbara, Martumili Artists is an Aboriginal art centre representing the Martu people of the arid lands of central Western Australia. The artwork of Martumili Artists encompasses a dynamic range of styles, unified by the core themes of Country and Jukurrpa (Dreaming stories), passed down through generations of Martu from the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) times.
Papunya Tula Artists is Australia’s seminal Aboriginal owned and directed art cooperative, representing the Pintupi and Luritja artists of the Western Desert. The company was established in 1972 by the core group of artists that catalysed the Western Desert Art Movement. Papunya Tula Artists has become both an iconic art canon and model Indigenous enterprise, with celebrities such as Beyoncé and JAY-Z counted amongst their many fans.
Yulparitja Artists is situated in the remote community of Bidyadanga, set against the dramatic backdrop of Kimberly coastline. From this idyllic setting, the collective of artists paint their homelands in intimate detail, depicting the Dreaming sites and associated stories of their Country in the rich ochres, cool azures, and gentle sherbet hues of the surrounding landscape.
Project Two Mile works with over 100 marginalised women, helping them build financial agency and independence through meaningful work. With an initial focus on the squatter settlements surrounding Port Moresby, the organisation provides increasing outreach into remote areas including the Mekeo district in the Central Province, the Kamnibit women from Angoram District in the East Sepik Province, and the Telefomin district in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.
Based amidst the wilderness of Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River, Singu Arts works with around 700 weavers, many of them single mothers struggling to support families. Established by Lina Singu, the cooperative’s bilum network snakes its way along the Sepik River, where Lina travels regularly to teach and support women in the remote Lower Sepik villages of Kampot and Chimodo, enabling them to make an income through their traditional cultural practices.
