The icing on the cake

Isaiah Nagurrgurrba, Gabriel Maralngurra, Donna Nadjamerrek, Felicity Wright and Wendy Kennedy ready to cut the Injalak Arts 25th birthday commemorative cakes from Kakadu Bakery.

INJALAK Arts and Crafts’ 25th birthday was literally the icing on the cake for Indigenous culture and traditional arts in West Arnhem this year. A large and enthusiastic crowd turned out for the celebrations in Gunbalanya on Saturday 1 November, enjoying bush tucker cookups, traditional dancing and music, and having a go at everything from damper making and screenprinting to spear-throwing. Gunbalanya’s artists joined tourists, visitors and VIPs for music, dancing, art demonstrations, and a good old bush tucker feast.

Injalak Arts Centre Committee President Donna Nadjamerrek told The Wire the artists were not only celebrating the success of Injalak as an arts centre, but also as a place and source of education.

“It is important for our young people, who are coming here to learn their culture that they might not learn at home,” she said. Donna, who, along with committee members including Neville Namarnyilk, Isaiah Nagurrgurrba and Gabriel Maralngurra, was present from the beginnings of Injalak way back in 1984, said she didn’t know at the time that their activities would turn in to the Arts and Crafts Centre it is today.

Wendy Kennedy, now a Team Leader Adult Literacy & Numeracy Top End at Charles Darwin University, said in those days a group of women frequenting the Adult Education Centre were engaging in activities such as learning to sew.

“Originally it was for personal use, but gradually they started to create sewn items for other people and finally for sale to sustain the activity,” Wendy said. “No-one took payment for their work, and all the money was put back into purchasing fabric and other consumables.”

Visiting Gunbalanya for the commemorations on Saturday 1 November, Wendy said it was encouraging to see Injalak remaining strong. “It is a central hub for the exchange of culture, and provides employment for a lot of artists,” she said. “One of the reasons for starting the arts centre was to provide power to the artists.”

Wendy said as skill levels increased in the early days there was a desire to explore other creative avenues. “Through exchange trips with the Women’s Centre at Jabiru, the ladies learnt the skills to make silkscreens, and started to screen print some of the items they made, such as calico shoulder bags and skirts,” she said. At about this time a group of young men approached Wendy, as the Adult Educator, asking for ‘something to do’. “They expressed dissatisfaction with not being able to secure paid work and were bored with ‘sitting around’,” she said.

Some of the men were talented artists, but either didn’t want to paint on bark or it wasn’t traditionally appropriate for them to engage in this activity, she said. But there was an opportunity for their talents to complement the skills of the women in trying to start a commercial business. In 1985, a trip to Bathurst Island was arranged for the group to go and talk with the artists at Tiwi Design – the most successful screen printing business in remote communities at that time. When it became obvious that a business was not going to spring up overnight, Wendy suggested the men start to work on skill development through training at the Adult Education Centre. A talented printer working for Tiwi Design, Ray Young, ran a workshop on making screens and basic printing techniques.

Wendy said funding was difficult to secure, so activities were aligned to be funded through adult education. “The women also took on cleaning contracts at the hospital and visitor accommodation,” she said. “The money from these contracts went into the general funds to purchase equipment and materials,” she said.

The next step was to find a place to work. The local council of the day granted permission to use “the green shed”, which was cleaned up and became the venue for the men’s activities. As work progressed and products were sold, it became clear the shed was not going to be big enough. So trainer John Kellet came out from Darwin in June 1988 to train the young men in the skills needed to build an extension on the shed. During this time, Pam Merrington from the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme had been visiting the community attempting to engage young people in the program. After consultations, the young men and women at the Adult Education Centre began complete working to complete the program’s Bronze Award. The program also required the development of a skill, so the group chose to focus on screen printing, art work or sewing for their skill area, with some of the group lucky enough to go on a trip to Cairns in 1988 to meet with the Duke of Edinburgh.

"Gabriel Maralngurra presented the Duke with a T-shirt printed in the old green shed"

“The NT group travelled with Pam Merrington and Michael Crowe and called themselves ‘The Dukes Mob’. At this event Gabriel Maralngurra presented the Duke with a T-shirt printed in the old green shed. From there, with the assistance of the Aboriginal Development Corporation and Wayne Brockelbank, the business developed and a committee was formed to apply for a large grant to construct a purpose-built arts space.

“With Bob Collins’ support in Canberra the application was successful,” Wendy said. The committee secured Ross Tonkin as architect, employed contractors and oversaw construction. “This was a huge task considering no one had had any experience with this type of work,” Wendy said. The building was completed in 1989, with the Council erecting a fence and trainee rangers from Kakadu assisting with landscaping ready for the grand opening.

“This was the culmination of five years’ work, contributed to by a number of people from both within the community as well as support from outside,” Wendy said.

Injalak Arts could not exist today without the dedication and hard work of many individuals over the years, she said.  “The original group of women, and later men, deserve recognition for their vision and tenacity against many odds to see their dream realised,” she said. “Injalak today is a vibrant hub of cultural exchange where knowledge is passed on. It is a place that links the past with the present and continues to provide hope for the future.”