Jilamara Arts and Craft Association

Milikapiti

Established in 1989, Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association is owned and governed by artists from the community of Milikapiti on the Tiwi Islands. Comprised of two main islands Bathurst and Melville, the Tiwis are north of Darwin and have been home to Tiwi people since parlingarri (creation time). The Milikapiti community is on Wulirankuwu Country on the north coast of Melville Island overlooking the Arafura Sea. It is a small community that celebrates family, culture and art-making.

The art centre is the cultural hub of the community and houses working studios, wood carving and screen-printing workshops, the architecturally designed Kutuwulumi Gallery and the Muluwurri Museum – the only historical collection on Melville Island.

The term Jilamara describes “design” based on ceremonial ochre markings on the body. Reimagining these styles at the art centre has fostered a dynamic creative field for maintaining Tiwi knowledge, as well as sharing and celebrating contemporary living culture. These performative foundations have directed the organisation’s course for decades, from its origins in translating jilamara design to screen-printed garments as an adult education centre in the 1980s to producing major exhibition outcomes as an indigenous governed art centre in more recent decades.

Through workshops, training and representation Jilamara members of diverse abilities are supported to build careers as internationally renowned artists. In the community, the art centre is also an important place for local school children to learn through culture classes and for many generations of Tiwi people to build bright futures.