Ngarranggarni: Gija Art and Country (CUMC90034)

This on-country subject takes place at Warmun Art Centre and on surrounding Gija land in the East Kimberley, Western Australia. It is taught by senior Gija knowledge holders as part of a collaborative two-way learning partnership with University of Melbourne cultural materials conservation staff. Gija lecturers will introduce students to the concept of Ngarranggarni; an expansive and complex one that defies simple definition or translation. The Ngarranggarni is also a framework that continues to encode, nourish and maintain Gija law and conceptions of social organisation, trade and exchange, kinship relations and family ties, custodianship of country and the practice of song, dance, spirituality, art, language and philosophy.

These big concepts are explored through song, dance, language, mungari (food) and the preparation and use of artistic materials, such as ochre, garliwoony (tree sap) and wood for carving.

In introducing Ngarranggarni the fundamental link between Gija culture, language, country and artistic expression is emphasised. Its specific relevance to ethical and technical decision making regarding the conservation, storage, exhibition and use of Gija cultural material is reinforced through discussion and practical sessions in which the source, location, physical characteristics and production methods of the ochres and binders used in Warmun artworks and their associated stories are studied.