ABOUT US
As an Aboriginal owned organisation with the community at its heart, we strive to deliver positive social, economic and cultural outcomes for all involved.
“I get ideas from my imagination and from the rock art to make my designs. I want people to feel the spirits and the elders who were doing those styles when they look at my paintings. I want them to feel and touch how it was done, to see the past continuing in the present.”
Gabriel Maralngurra
Injalak Arts has been a centre for art, craft and community since it’s opening in 1989. We are based in Gunbalanya, an Aboriginal community of 1200 in West Arnhem Land at the top of the Northern Territory in Australia.
In Kunwinjku, the language of our artists, Injalak means shelter. We pride ourselves on creating a safe place for culture, creativity and knowledge to bloom within the community. With over 200 active members – artists, weavers and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands, our year-round production of art is inspired by connection to culture, country and people.
VISIT US
Visit our studio in Gunbalanya, 300kms east of Darwin and less than an hour from Kakadu.
Here, we welcome guests from all over the world to see our artists in action, experience Injalak Hill and immerse themselves in the culture and history of our ancient rock art galleries.
MEET OUR ARTISTS
Based in remote Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Injalak Arts has over 200 active members – artists, weavers and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands.
Inspired by culture, country, community and language, our talented artists create sculptures, fabrics, weavings and natural canvases year-round.
Culture and history have always been passed down through time in the form of art. Images of hunting, bush tucker, animals and changing seasons can all be spotted in our ancient rock art as well as our contemporary works.
“X-ray style is important, it shows the anatomy; heart, liver, lungs. It’s about what’s inside the animal’s body.”
Gabriel Maralngurra
country and culture
All our art is informed by our artists’ experience, country, and culture. In West Arnhem Land bininj (men or people) and daluk (women) are born into eight skin groups and two moieties, Duwa and Yirridjdja. Each cultural group has their own history and traditions and each belong to a kunmokurrkurr (clan). In the same way a story or Djang (creation stories or Dreamings) can change depending on who is telling the story, the connections between people and the cultural intricacies they share also influence artistic expression.
Today, all our artists are linked by Kunwinjku language and the significance of the Arnhem Plateau rock art. At the core of West Arnhem Land, 2 million hectares of sandstone escarpment stretches across the Northern Territory. This escarpment, and outliers like Injalak Hill in Gunbalanya, are some of the most salient and valuable areas of rock art in the world. The immeasurable depths of history in country continues to live through our artists today by creating works informed by the layered paintings of thousands of years ago.
The Arnhem Plateau, sandstone escarpment country at the heart of West Arnhem Land, is one of the most important rock art areas in the world and the birthplace of our art.
Support our work
You can support us to continue to be a place of shelter, creativity and community by purchasing aboriginal art online here, or by making a donation here.
