Aboriginal art exhibitions are on display at Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery, 47 High Street, Fremantle - Mon-Fri 10am-5.00pm and Sat & Sun 12-5pm. There is no entrance fee to view the exhibitions.
Online art exhibition links are accessible below for those not able to attend the gallery. Advance viewing and purchasing of exhibition works is available to subscribers of the Japingka Newsletter.
Small is Beautiful
Through January 2019
Small is Beautiful brings together small-scale affordable artworks by Aboriginal artists and communities. Works represented include artists Tarisse King, Gracie Morton, Walala Tjapaltjarri, Jeannie Mills as well as communities at Ampilatwatja in Central Australia and Buku Larrnggay Mulka at Yirrkala in far north-east tip of Northern Territory.
Ghost Net Baskets & Bush Dyed Textiles – Groote Eylandt
16 Nov – 22 Dec 2018
Anindilyakwa Artists from c transform ghost nets into woven baskets, changing environmental threats into traditional art forms. The women use plants and dyes found in the bush to dye fabrics which become clothing, scarves and home accessories.
Painting on Country – Utopia Artists
21 September – 6 November 2018
Utopia artists have asserted their artistic and cultural credentials since the 1980s when the elaborate stories and ceremonies of Alyawarr and Anmatyerre language groups were first painted on canvas. The use of finely dotted designs and detailed stories have bought Utopia artists into prominence in the Aboriginal art world.
Ikuntji Artists – Irrimatitja
21 September – 6 November 2018
Ikuntji Artists group has worked in the community at Haasts Bluff for over 25 years, producing artworks of Ngurra and Tjukurrpa, the Country and Dreamings of the many language groups that live in the community.
Tjanpi Desert Weavers
25 May– 11 July 2018
Tjanpi Desert Weavers present fibre sculptures from NPY Lands, with over 400 Aboriginal women artists from 26 remote desert communities creating whimsical and authentic images of desert life. Artworks are described as contemporary culture celebrating creativity and life on traditional Country.
Fiona Omeenyo & Rosella Namok
20 July – 29 Aug 2018
Contemporary Indigenous art finds strong expression in the works of Fiona Omeenyo and Rosella Namok. The artists from Lockhart River community on Cape York in Northern Queensland, Paint the stories, people and landscape and of their coastal homelands.
Edward Blitner – Freshwater Billabongs
20 July – 29 Aug 2018
Edward Blitner believes that maintaining the ancient crafts of his forefathers is an important role for artists to take on. The traditions of Arnhem land art are embedded in the rich rock art galleries of the sandstone country, where artists have been overlaying their images for thousands of years.
Omie Barkcloth Art – Papua New Guinea
25 May– 11 July 2018
Omie Artists from Oro Province in Papua New Guinea produce traditional textiles called barkcloth which are decorated and painted with family and tribal designs. These barkcloths are used during important ceremonies and remain part of everyday life in the villages.
Land and Sky – Warlpiri Artists
25 May– 11 July 2018
Generations of Warlpiri artists have carried on the traditions of their culture and the preservation of Jukurrpa – now new artists at the community of Yuendumu are coming forward to take their place in culture and Law. Paintings are grounded in the Jukurrpa or Dreaming Law of the Country, and this knowledge is passed down through traditional practices.
Artists of Ampilatwatja – Welcome to Paradise
23 March – 16 May 2018
Paintings and silk scarves from the distinctive studio of Ampilatwatja artists in Central Australia. The community is located 320 kms to the north of Alice Springs. The paintings reveal the natural world and landscape of ancestral country with the bush foods and medicines found there.
Warakurna Artists – Welcome to Paradise
23 March – 16 May 2018
Warakurna community is located along the Rawlinson Ranges on Ngaanyatjarra lands in Western Australia. It grew in the 1970s when people from Docker River moved closer to their traditional lands, and in 2005 when Native Title was granted to the traditional owners over Ngaanyatjarra lands. Warakurna art centre opened in 2005, giving expression to local stories and customs.
Amanda Westley
9 Feb – 14 Mar 2018
Talking Land Lines, talking colour – the paintings of Amanda Conway-Jones (Westley) reflect on the importance of Country to indigenous Australians. The colours represent the two aspects of life on the coast, with the warm colours of the land and the cool colours of the sea.
Blue – Aboriginal Paintings
9 Feb – 14 Mar 2018
Sometimes used to signify water and aspects of the ether – wind, smoke, clouds, night skies – blue becomes a more familiar colour in the work of these Aboriginal artists.
Christmas Collection 2017
1 Dec 2017 - 31 Jan 2018
Paintings by Aboriginal artists have brought us joy & surprise in 2017 – we hope you will find this selection full of new and inspiring things. Japingka
Spinifex Arts Project – 20th Anniversary
10 Nov – 20 Dec 2017
Spinifex Arts Project, 20th Anniversary exhibition – Artists from the Pitjantjatjara lands in WA present their latest work. These beautiful paintings depict Creation stories and connections to country, recognising the 20 year journey of Spinifex people in restoring and recovering their cultural ties and homeland sites.
Ancestors, Elements, Heritage – Sarrita King & Tarisse King
22 Sep – 31 Oct 2017
Sarrita King & Tarisse King share an Indigenous heritage connected to Gurrindji culture at Wave Hill in Central Northern Territory. Creating canvases that evoke the detail and elemental forces of the Land, the King sisters have paid tribute to their father’s artistic and philosophical ideas.
Damien and Yilpi Marks Exhibition
22 Sep – 31 Oct 2017
Husband and wife team Damien Marks and Yilpi Marks collaborate to make colourful paintings of their Central Desert homelands. Damien grew up at Papunya and his early influences and learning came from senior artists Clifford Possum, Billy Stockman and Uta Uta Jangala.
Yam Dreaming
21 July – 12 September 2017
The importance of the Yam Dreaming narratives of Central and Western Deserts reflects the crucial role this food source played in the lives of traditional people. The Yam is presented in ceremonies through song cycles and dance performances.
Fiona Omeenyo – Ancestors and Spirits
21 July – 12 September 2017
Fiona Omeenyo draws on the culture and story-telling of her home community at Lockhart River in northern Queensland to make paintings of the spirits of both living and past occupants.
Rivers of the Desert – Anna Petyarre
26 May – 30 June 2017
Central Australia has some extraordinary river channels that feed into the Lake Eyre basin, causing the rivers to run inland rather than towards the coast. The Utopia Homelands are placed within this massive inland river system and the artist Anna Petyarre records the terrain of her country in her paintings.