Artists draw attention in Jabiru

Cultural teacher, artist, dancer, musician and song man Graham Rostron at work on the Jabiru Community Hall mural.

ARTISTS working on a mural in Jabiru have put the final touches to the project before celebrating with a traditional ceremony, music and a barbecue on Friday 1 April.

The 11-metre-long piece on the Jabiru Community Hall combines traditional motifs with contemporary aerosol art. The work has already drawn a lot of interest, with tourists and residents and national media stopping by the Jabiru Town Plaza throughout the week to see the mural painters in action.

The mural was completed as part of a broader undertaking to refurbish the hall by West Arnhem Regional Council who, together with Children’s Ground, covered the costs of the painting including the wages of the artists.

The project was done in close consultation with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation and the Mirarr traditional owners to create an appropriate design. Members of the Children’s Ground Creative Arts team collaborated with Melbourne-based mural artist Andrew Bourke to create the mural, which features a burarr, or Merten’s water monitor, surrounded by other wildlife species from Kakadu.

“It was good to see Bininj and Balanda working together.”
- Abel Naborlhborlh.

Andrew, who has worked extensively with schools and communities around Australia, said he had enjoyed collaborating with the local Bininj artists.

“An important part of the project was getting the sign-off from the traditional owners, who chose the water monitor as the feature animal for the mural,” Andrew said.

He said working in the Top End heat had posed its own set of challenges.

“The aerosol paint was drying even before it hit the wall, resulting in a kind of chalky effect,” he said. “I had to adjust my technique to suit the conditions.”

Having recently completed a mural of a crocodile at the Walkabout Lodge in Nhulunbuy, Andrew says he loves visiting Arnhem Land. Andrew told The Wire he enjoyed painting reptiles.

"I have four pythons at home, so they are a pet subject of mine,” he said.

Senior Bininj artist David Cameron painting a rock python.

As Andrew created his part of the mural from a photograph of a burrar, occasionally stepping back for a sense of scale, senior Bininj artists working alongside this Balanda (non-Indigenous) artist used more traditional methods to render local land and freshwater species on the wall, including a rock python, nabarlek (rock wallaby), crustaceans and dragonflies.

Senior Bininj artist David Cameron took time to explain to visitors how the fine brushes for cross-hatching are made from bulrushes growing in the region. Meanwhile the West Arnhem Regional Council works crew continued their months-long renovations to the building, repairing concrete at the entrance and repainting the facing walls around the mural.

Respected artist with the Children’s Ground Creative Arts Team Abel Naborlhborlh said he was pleased with the final result.

“It was good to see Bininj and Balanda working together,” Abel said.

The finished mural featuring the burarr, or Merten's water monitor.

On Friday afternoon all those who had contributed to the project got together for a community barbecue outside the hall, along with residents and tourists, and celebrated the completion of the mural.

David Cameron kicked off proceedings with a traditional Bininj Gunborrk music and dance ceremony. This was followed by the debut performance of local hip-hop/rock outfit, Black Rock Band, fronted by Richie Guymala, whose tunes drew a great response from the crowd.

WARC Kakadu Ward Councillor Anna Egerton, who was present for the celebrations, said she hoped works on the hall would see it re-emerge as a focal point for community events.

“It’s so great to see so many people out here in the town plaza today,” Cr Egerton said.

She said as a local councillor her focus was on the long-term sustainability of Jabiru, both as a tourist destination and a regional hub for the delivery of services.

“The hall was originally built in 1983, and like a lot of infrastructure in Jabiru, it is ready for a makeover,” she said. “The mural is just one part of Council’s $220,000 upgrade to the hall, which includes a $100,000 contribution from the NT Government, for which we are grateful. We are mindful of the natural and cultural heritage of our special part of the world and want Jabiru to be a desirable place for tourists and locals alike.”

The Jabiru Community Hall will be the venue for the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory Conference and General Meeting on Thursday 14 April. It will have its official re-opening event at the end of Kakadu’s Discovery Month on Saturday 30 April.

As for Andrew, he promises to return to Kakadu in the near future. “As well as painting, I also enjoy photography, and took a short trip out to Mamukala Wetlands while I was here, but it was a very busy week. I hope to be back in Jabiru soon to see more.”

Melbourne-based mural artist Andrew Bourke.