“The Jarracharra: Dry Season Wind” exhibition opened on Saturday April 16 bringing the work of 25 artists from the Bábbarra Women’s Centre located in Maningrida, in the Arnhem Land region of Australia, to Kuwait. The Australian Embassy has collaborated with Sadu House to present over 40 designs of Australian Indigenous craftsmanship.

For the Burarra tribes in Australia’s Northern Territory ‘Jarracharra’ signals the arrival of the dry season winds, which have brought people together for ceremony, dance, and rituals to celebrate the ripening of bush foods, medicines, and plants for tens of thousands of years.

The women of the Bábbarra Women’s Centre, representing 12 language groups in the Maningrida region, design and handprint textiles which they sell around Australia and the world as a way of achieving financial independence. Each length of fabric tells ancestral stories of Arnhem land country and culture.

“I am absolutely delighted to be able to bring this exhibition to Kuwait. The artists of the Bábbarra Women’s Centre, as Indigenous Australian women from Maningrida in the Northern Territory of Australia, have brought their rich, ancient, but still living culture to bear through these artworks. These pieces tell the stories of their lives and history, much in the way that Sadu tells the story of Kuwait,” Australian ambassador to Kuwait Jonathan Gilbert said.

The Sadu House has also invited three local Kuwaiti designers to work with the Indigenous Australian fabric designs and showcase their work giving a vibrant cross-cultural dimension to the exhibition.

The Kuwaiti designers include Bibi Al Ghanim, a furniture designer and owner of Maze Creative Concept; Haya Al Abdulkareem, an accessories designer and owner of Folklore the Label; and Souad Al Sabah, a fashion designer and owner of Sirdab 6.

Bibi Al Ghanim’s upholstered her walnut wood and cane chairs in the Jarracharra fabric for the exhibition, Haya Al Abdulcareem created bags with the fabric and Souad Al Sabah creates stunning garments with the silk screened Jarracharra materials and beautiful hand-crafted beadwork.

“We welcome and celebrate cultural exchange in all its forms, especially that which enhances the evolving role of crafts as strong cultural symbols and contemporary forms of inspiration, creative expression, and identity,” Sadu House founder, Sheikha Bibi Al-Sabah said. 

Photography by: Christopher Johns.

The “Jarracharra: Dry Season Wind” exhibition can be viewed at Sadu House until 23 April, and is open to the public from 10 AM to 2 PM, and from 8 PM to 11 PM. Find out more on Instagram @saduhouse.