Annie Moors Artist Residency – Milingimbi Arts & Culture Centre

Annie Moors is a Yurrwi/Milingimbi woman and emerging visual artist based in Darwin who Life Without Barriers provides support for.

Much of Annie’s artistic practice and subject matter is related to her Yolngu culture, family and country of Yurrwi/Milingimbi in North East Arnhem Land.

This residency was centred around a mentorship program to support Annie’s professional development through connection to country, culture and family.

Annie took part in a studio-based mentorship program at Milingimbi Arts & Culture Centre, under the supervision of senior artists. This mentorship program gave Annie an incredibly special immersive experience enabling her to access artistic practices specific to her kinship, clan, totems and country, including;

• Significance of ceremony, Dreaming stories, and where designs(miny’tji) and motifs specific to the Garrawurra family of the Liya-gawumirr clan come from

• Use of body paint for funerals or ceremony

• Hollow log (dupun) oyster and cuttlefish designs

• Preparation of Pandanus (gungu) for weaving

• Bush trip to Rocky Point to collect red yellow, red & white ochres (Ratjpa, Miku, Buthalak), specific to the Garrawurra family of the Liya-gawumirr clan

• Collecting the Stringybark used for hollow log (Gadayka)

• Kinship relationships (gurrutu)

• Weaving Coil baskets (bathi) from pandanus

• Body paint stripes (djirrididi)

• Mother / child / cultural caretaker (djuŋgaya)

• Grandparent / grandchild (märi / gutharra)

• Sister / brother (yapa / wäwa)

• Närra (cleansing ceremony time)

The residency program was held at Milingimbi Arts & Culture Centre 17 -27 May 2021. Proudly supported by; The Australia Council for the Arts. This project was facilitated in partnership with Milingimbi Arts and Culture, Arts Access Darwin/ Darwin Community Arts and Life Without Barriers.

Image via: Eve Pawlik

Story originally from Art Access Darwin Blog.