Minnie Lumai preparing the etching plate
Northern Editions will launch the Waringarri Suite in association with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts on 16 August as part of the Darwin Festival activities.
The exhibition – Kimberley Ink: the Waringarri Suite and selected new etchings - will be opened by Charles Darwin University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Helen Garnett, at the Northern Editions gallery (Building Orange 9) on Saturday, 16 August at 1:30pm. It will be followed by a traditional performance by Waringarri dancers.
The Waringarri Suite is the spectacular result of a series of printmaking workshops held during the past 16 months with artists from Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Kununurra WA. It is a deluxe boxed collection of 13 limited edition etchings by 13 artists and will be launched as part of the exhibition at Northern Editions gallery.
The Waringarri artists said in a statement: “For some artists, this is our first print. Other artists, they have made many prints. All together for this Waringarri Suite – senior artists and new artists together – we share our culture and our country.”
Presented as a comprehensive collection of vibrant landscapes and strong figurative works, the Waringarri Suite is a tribute to the country and culture of each of the artists. It combines the finest examples from Waringarri’s senior and emerging artists in the one collection. The exhibition also features a selection of larger individual etchings.
Artists Alan Griffiths, Mignonette Jamin, Minnie Lumai, Daisy Bitting, Agnes Armstrong, Phyllis Ningarmara, Peggy Griffiths, Judy Mengil, Peter Newry, Billy Thomas, Carol Hapke, Ronnie Yundun and Gloria Mengil collaborated with printmakers, Gertjan Forrer, Dian Darmansjah, Manni Redlich, Paul Satchell and Glynis Lee to create these etchings.
Waringarri artists have a long and distinguished history with the print medium. Iconic artists from the region, such as the late Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie, Hector Jandany, and Paddy Carlton, were some of the first to work with the NTU Printmaking Workshop which became Northern Editions in 1997.