Exhibitions

Jarracharra: dry season winds

Ended 12 months ago — at Embassy of Australia, Paris

Date & Time

Start: October 3, 2019 at 7:00 pm
End: January 10, 2020 at 6:00 pm

Opening in Paris on the 3rd October, we are incredibly proud to present Jarracharra.

Jarracharra: dry season wind showcases a powerful collection of Aboriginal women’s textile art from the Maningrida region in Western Arnhem Land, Australia.

This exhibition features women pushing artistic barriers to depict ancient narratives using contemporary mediums.

Women’s deep and intrinsic cultural knowledge runs through all the works in this exhibition.

Jarracharra is the powerful cool wind that blows across Arnhem Land each dry season, signifying the beginning of a period of exchange between clans and an annual ceremonial coming together.

Jarracharra, a term in the Burarra language, represents a metaphor for the way the Bábbarra Women’s Centre brings together different Aboriginal cultures and stories from across Arnhem Land.

The exhibition presents a rich variety of textile designs from a range of Bábbarra eras. The works hang together cohesively as one body, in the same manner diverse artists operate together at Bábbarra as one family.

The artists featured in Jarracharra often speak or understand more than six living Aboriginal languages, and have complex social and ceremonial links with all neighbouring groups. The majority of artists in this exhibition are Kuninjku; however, there are also artists from the Gurr-goni, Ndjébbana, Mawng, Burarra, Djambarrpuyngu, Djinang, Rembarrnga, Kriol and Kune languages.

The screenprint designs shown in Jarracharra were developed over many years with generations of women during Maningrida community workshops.

Jarracharra winds have brought people together for ceremony, dance and ritual for tens of thousands of years, just as the Bábbarra Women’s Centre has brought diverse women and languages together for over 35 years.

Poster design featuring Kunkurra (Spiral Wind) by Janet Marawarr.