Congratulations Emily Carter AM – we could not be more proud of you!
]]>Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre Annual General Meeting
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Last Wednesday afternoon the wider Fitzroy Crossing community came together to connect and restore in the midst of the ongoing crisis from major flooding. The army landed their large choppers for the children to explore and Senior elder Mary Aitken welcomed service crew and community with a smoking ceremony alongside Nat Davey. The children of Fitzroy Crossing reminded us of the restorative, grounding and essential nature of play in the midst of crisis.
A healing community arts space was set up for children by art therapists for children to play, connect, share and go about the important business of simply being children. Bunuba woman and educator Kaylene Marr also guided children in positive and playful ways. The session spontaneously culminated in a collective installation; a whole community gathered on higher ground. The children carefully created and added to “our community” and experienced feelings of joy and togetherness.
We know that art and play, in this instance with tactile and natural materials can provide grounding, connection, expression and meaning making for children and adults alike during difficult times.
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The school teachers, Aboriginal Educators and children have been part of an innovative trial to deliver telecare into this very remote community. Some children have received regular speech therapy using technology all the way from Manly in Sydney. Marninwarntikura entered into a partnership with Royal Far West six years ago to explore ways we can build capacity in communities and improve access to allied health services using technology.
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This initiative follows on from the Gardenscape project, a whole-property investment undertaken to revitalise landscape design and beautify the natural outdoor environment and intersects with our other healing strategies for our community; the living curriculum, crafting, music (project) and movement, many stories project, environmental sustainability and more.
The objectives of this project:
This project will follow-up the participants of the Lililwan Project to understand the wellbeing of adolescents in community. The Bigiswun Kid Project will provide information on longitudinal outcomes for adolescents in remote Aboriginal Australia, identify whether implementation of individual Lililwan Management Plans was achieved, and document difficulties in accessing services. Such information is essential to inform future service planning and provision of specialised support.
“The fact that it is genuinely community-initiated and led is the key to the project’s success. It’s not just research for research sake, it’s giving young people a voice and making sure the research has an immediate benefit for the community.”
– Sue Thomas, Strategic Priority Lead
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We took down the old reception area and replaced it with plants and chairs that invite everyone to stop and take a breather in the air-conditioning.
There are some more changes to come, we are slowly making improvements and feeling really positive about the welcoming vibe we have created. We like watching how small changes influence how we respond and encourage people to connect with each other, and stop and enjoy our inside and outside garden spaces.
]]>The children and educators at Baya Gawiy all play a part in the garden to plate project where they help to grow the plants and care and nurture them until they are ready to pick and eat.
The quality of the education and care being delivered to our Fitzroy Valley families is very impressive. We all feel so good when we come into the centre and see such healthy and engaged children all actively participating in learning, while also having a lot of fun.
Great Work Baya Gawiy Team
]]>It is so good to look around our different work spaces and see the products our women have created.
]]>April is one of our artists that continue to create beautiful pieces as she comes along to the studio and quietly gets on with a variety of creative projects.
She is a prolific screen printer and her prints of desert cotton have made it onto some wallpaper as a result of a collaboration between Marnin Studio and Willie Weston
https://www.willieweston.com/wallpaper-commercial-designs
It is so good to look around our different work spaces and see the products our women have created.
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Ceramisists, Anna John and Tanya Lee joined us in Marnin Studio for a fun filled, skill building residency.
The Yiriman women will be joining us in the Chill and Parent Centre (CPC) for more seed threading and medicine making throughout the year.
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If we are able to create spaces that are calming, welcoming and therapeutically designed we are in a good place to have a positive impact on women and their families engaging with the different teams across the organisation .
]]>We have big plans to create therapeutic spaces inside our buildings and healing gardens, that wrap around all the different places we work, the studio, women's shelter, marulu, legal unit, offices, and art therapy space. We are slowly working through all the areas to make them inviting with design features that create a sense of calm. The combined effect will promote healing and help all our teams in the work we do, to support Fitzroy Valley women and their families, to address complex challenges while creating positive futures.
]]>We are once again reminded of the healing power of Country.
]]>Mudge and Junior cooking up a feed. Catching and cooking your feed is such a satisfying feeling.
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Our latest collaboration used the river weed or ‘jija’ (Walmajarri) design by artist Deborah Yadda. Launching as a Christmas gift range at the end of 2020.
As part of our partnership, Endota Spa also donate some of their beautiful products for the families MWRC work with in the Fitzroy Valley, to create therapeutic spaces throughout the organisation as well as for our teams to use in their work such as at Nurture Nights.
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We heard these words a lot during 2020 but Emily has been talking about the need for Aboriginal and Non Aboriginal People to work together to make positive change and increase our impact.
'This is big work and we can't do it alone' Emily Carter CEO.
Marninwarntikura has always been good at seeking out expertise to work with leaders in their field , whether researchers, specialists, consultants with extensive experience, artists in residence or expert advisers to help us realise our vision
To Strengthen the power of women and their families to create culturally rich, engaged and healthy lives for Indigenous peoples living in the Fitzroy Valley and beyond.
We are an organisation renowned for its quality, innovation and collaborative spirit. We are committed to working with like minded organisations and businesses to build a better future for our families. We have partners that provide pro bono or in kind support, others that donate their products. Some who donate funds themselves or work with their networks to raise funds. Everyone has a role to play and we invite you to join us on our journey. This is a healing journey for our families, our community, our organisation, our Country and we invite you to join us to build our vision. follow us on Facebook or email us at marninsupport@mwrc.com.au
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This resulted in a week long camp on country at Ngumpan Community. The aim was to share knowledge and skills of art and culture between our passionate and talented Kimberley women.
Each art centre ran workshops including screen and block printing, bush dying, boab nut carving, seed jewellery, cane toad leather tanning, bush medicines, soaps and candles.
The camp offered the unique opportunity to talk face to face about our industry and discuss our visions for the future of the arts in our region. This was a very special event for generations of like-minded women and girls to connect.
Set in the beautiful, quiet country between natural springs and Ngumpan Community it was a healing experience for all. These camps always build our sense of wellbeing and connection to each other and country. We hope the Women’s Art Camp can become a part of every year from now on.
]]>At the ECLU our educators have been exposed to risk of COVID-19 every day to ensure the children in the Fitzroy Valley have access to high quality education and care in their early years. Baya Gawiy has remained opened to help support our families who are providing essential services to the community. Many of our educators are also currently on secondment from Goodstart Early Learning and are far away from their families and loved ones. The educators have taken on new procedures and strict cleaning routines daily to ensure the safety of all the children. Thank you to all our fantastic educators doing such a great job in these difficult times.
]]>In the new way of working we have increased our delivery and support to more families.
Care/educational packs (contents) and gardening resources for Moongardi.
Images source: Vicki Hynam Baya Gawiy CPC Program Leader.
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Since 2018, Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technogology Centre has worked with Marninwarntikura’s Baya Gawiy Language, Culture and Wellebing team to co-design and establish a dedicated database for Bunuba, Gooniyandi, and Walmajarri languages. Gathering and entering a range of multi media data provides an invaluable resource for language invigoration and preservation as well as a living resource for the Baya Gawiy Language, Culture and Wellbeing program. To support this project, members of the team attended the bi-annual Puliima: ‘Women in Language’ Conference in Darwin in July 2019 to take part in an extraordinary gathering of Indigenous language groups from across the country and internationally.
It was most fitting that a design from Marnin Studio was also used to promote the event.
A beautiful artwork by artist and long time language teacher, April Jones was selected to feature in the promotion, program and banners at the conference.
This artwork was a patchwork of her different designs created over her career.
Our Baya Gawiy Language Culture and Wellbeing Team were delighted to see their home country reflected in these designs at the conference in Darwin.
At the end of 2019 Willie Weston launched their latest collection of beautiful upholstery, drapery and wallpaper in collaboration with Marnin Studio. The range features designs by artists April Jones, Amanda Smith and Lee-Anne Williams inspired by the Fitzroy Valley landscape in the heart on the Kimberley region.
Image source: Willie Weston
April Jones is a Gooniyandi and Walmajarri woman from Bayulu Community. She spent many years teaching in Port Hedland, Broome and Fitzroy Crossing before arriving at the Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre, wanting to learn how to sew. Seven years later she began working with Marnin Studio, creating block and screen prints of local bush tucker, flora and fauna. April has two designs in our Fitzroy Crossing Collection, River Stones and Rainbows.
Image source: Willie Weston
Amanda Smith first began dying fabrics with local found materials, carving lino blocks and screen printing onto fabrics in 2014. In 2017 she was a founding member of the Design Within Country fashion project, designing a collection of fabrics, garments and jewellery for the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair fashion parade. A Gooniyandi woman and proud member of Bayulu Community, Amanda is committed to supporting young girls in her community to build their confidence and teach them the skills she’s learned through her work. Amanda’s design for our Fitzroy Crossing Collection is called Spinifex.
Image source: Willie Weston
Lee-Anne Williams, of the Bunuba and Wangkatjunka language groups, began her career painting boab nuts a and then moved onto screen and lino printing on textiles before being a founding member of Design Within Country fashion project in 2017. Lee-Anne aspires to running her own fashion business in order to support her community. Lee-Anne’s design for our Fitzroy Crossing Collection is called Water Levels.
Image source: Willie Weston Image source: Marnin Studio
Willie Weston works with Indigenous artists from around Australia to create fabrics and wallpapers for residential and commercial interiors. Paying artists for each metre produced, Willie Weston help contribute to ongoing income streams for Indigenous artists outside their main art practice.
To see the full collaboration and to purchase go to - https://www.willieweston.com/
Image source: Willie Weston
Image source: Art Gallery of South Australia
The three day art fair at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute has thousands of lovers and collectors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art walk through the doors to meet artists and purchase directly from art centres. This is the best way to ensure you are supporting ethical production and selling of Indigenous art work. For more information on ethical purchasing visit Indigenous Art Code and the Fake Art Harms Culture (hyperlink https://indigenousartcode.org/) campaign.
Image source: Marnin Studio
This year Marnin Studio also launched our collaboration with fabric and wallpaper company, Willie Weston. Printed by the metre this beautiful collection contributes to ongoing income for our artists outside their main practice. The ‘Fitzroy Crossing Collection’ features designs by April Jones, Amanda Smith and Lee-Anne Williams. Inspired by the landscape of Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Wankatjunka, Walmajarri and Nykina country, these beaufitul pieces are now available for everyone to enjoy in their homes and offices.
To see the collection and to purchase visit the Willie Weston website. (hyperlink https://www.willieweston.com/)
Although freezing in Adelaide, our artists really enjoyed meeting buyers and other artists, seeing the vast diversity of work on display, and of course hitting the op-shops!
Make sure to check out Tarnanthi here (https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/whats-on/tarnanthi/) and put the next dates in your calendar!
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Check out the felt mat of Geike Gorge (in progress) and the animals used by the language and wellbeing team to tell some great stories. The little frogs were referred to as "stranger" frogs, the cane toads that have recently started invading this area, that are strangers to this area.
The knitted frogs and bats and the felt barramundi and finger puppets are used in the story telling sessions. The collaborations are building our resources and put to good use in educational experiences that are created for our language and wellbeing team to use with the children .
]]>As the Marnin Studio Women have continued to work from home we are dropping off Activity Packs to give them the resources to take care of themselves and engage in therapeutic activities in these worrying times.
We are working on innovative packs some examples are mindfulness colouring in, skills development as well as resources for creating new designs that we can make into product when it is safe to reconnect again.
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