Image: Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Charlottesville
‘Nginingawula Jilamara Ngirramini kapi Jurra | Our Art Stories on Paper: Printmaking at Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association’ is on view through January 24, 2027, in the Upper West Oval Room of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, the exhibition brings together works by older and younger generations of Tiwi printmakers and focuses on the continuing development of printmaking at Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association.
The exhibition’s title refers to “our art stories on paper,” and its selection emphasizes both continuity and experimentation. Jilamara’s history began with printmaking: the popularity of printed textile designs by Raelene Kerinauia, Raelene Cook, Maxine Daniels and Isobel Marego contributed to the establishment of Jilamara as an art center in 1989. Its printmaking studio is now managed by Raylene Miller and remains a site for cultural continuity and innovation.
Printmaking’s collaborative character is central to the exhibition’s account of Tiwi art practice. The presentation includes works by Raylene Miller, Dino Wilson, Timothy Cook, Colleen Freddy and Raelene Kerinauia Lampuwatu, alongside work by other Tiwi artists. Featured processes include silkscreen, collagraph and etching. The works range from Miller’s ‘Yirrikipayi Tuwara (Crocodile Tail)’ (2023) and Cook’s ‘Kulama (Coming of Age Ceremony)’ (2023) to earlier prints such as Wilson’s ‘Warnarringa (Sun)’ (2017), Freddy’s ‘Jurrukukuni (Boobook Owl)’ (2017) and Kerinauia Lampuwatu’s ‘Kayimwagakami Jilamara (Ironwood Comb Body Paint Design)’ (2017).
The centerpiece is Michelle Palutuwayu Woody Minnapinni’s ‘Ngiya Murrakupupuni amintiya Jilamara (My Country and Art)’ (2026), a screenprint made during the artist’s residency in Charlottesville. Woody used natural ochres from her Country to create a complex seven-screen composition based on her jilamara, or ceremonial body-paint design. The work is printed on BFK Rives paper by Thomas Dean and Jeremy Taylor and was given by the artist to the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in 2026.
Woody co-curated the exhibition with Emmy Monaghan. In a statement published by Kluge-Ruhe, Woody described the project as a way to continue cultural knowledge from the artists who established Jilamara’s textile printmaking. She said senior artists would “lead the way with the young generation” and characterized the process as moving forward. The exhibition presents intergenerational mentorship as part of printmaking’s structure, rather than as separate historical stages.
A related performance, ‘Jilarti (Brolga): Pedro Wonaeamirri performed by Colin Heenan-Puruntatameri,’ is scheduled for September 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the same Rotunda room. The work, created by senior Tiwi artist and Jilamara president Pedro Wonaeamirri, will be performed by his nephew, Colin Heenan-Puruntatameri. The multimedia piece incorporates songlines, dance and body ornamentation and is followed by a short question-and-answer session. The exhibition remains on view at the University of Virginia through January 24, 2027.
