About Warmun Arts Centre

Warmun artists are renowned for their use of natural ochre and pigments on canvas, which is integral to the contemporary expression of land and culture as identity for Gija people. The work of Warmun artists’ is an inseparable and celebratory part of Gija culture and country, and draws on traditional Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories and contemporary life. Warmun art has a national and international reputation thanks to the leadership of highly successful Warmun artists like Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie, George Mung Mung and Paddy Jaminji. 

Now internationally renowned painters Lena Nyadbi, Patrick Mung Mung, Mabel Juli, Shirley Purdie, Madigan Thomas, Gordon Barney, Phyllis Thomas, Churchill Cann and Betty Carrington lead the way for a group of more than sixty emerging and younger artists currently painting for the art centre.

This new generation of Warmun artists works with the same, time-honoured materials and stories. The emerging works display a fresh, original and vibrant style that transcends cultural boundaries and places many Warmun artists at the forefront of contemporary art in Australia.

Painted using traditional ochres

Gija artists paint their country using only ochres dug from their land. Each canvas is painted using natural pigments hand collected in the Kimberly. The ochres are then crushed and blended with water and glue to create a luscious array of earthy tones.