badem mawoondool - red ochre, white ochre.

Last year, Aboriginal Contemporary was privileged to curate ‘Bow River Country’, a sell-out exhibition of works by Kathy and Tracey Ramsay from Warmun Arts.

One of the highlights of the show was how drawn people were to the dusty, pink ochres in much of the work. It got us thinking: what if we could curate an entire exhibition exploring the past and present of a single colour in East Kimberley art?

Welcome to ‘badem mawoondool- red ochre, white ochre’ (pronounced: BAH-dem MOUN-doo). ‘Red ochre, white ochre’ because, despite having beenpart of the ochres palette of art centres in the Kimberley since the beginning, there is no word for ‘pink’ in Gija.

‘Badem mawoondool’evokes the work of some of the Kimberley’s greatest-ever artists: Queenie McKenzie, Paddy Bedford, Freddie Timms and, Kathy and Tracey’s father, Rammey Ramsey.

Sourced from both the prized Jirrawun archive and the work of artists currently painting at Warmun, Aboriginal Contemporary’s first-ever online-only exhibition is not only an opportunity to acquire some rare and beautiful art, but also an opportunity to help our artists, art centres and remote communities through these difficult times.

To view the catalogue click here.