Yimardoowarra: Artist of the River

The Art of Loongkoonan

The paintings in this exhibition are best considered as conversations with country. The country in question, as many of their titles attest, is Nyikina country: the lands abutting the lower stretches of Mardoowarra, the majestic waterway that in 1837 would be renamed by European colonists the Fitzroy River. The Aboriginal inhabitants of these lands call themselves Yimardoowarra—the people of the river—reflecting not just their habitation of this place, but their belonging to this country.

Yimardoowarra: Artist of the River The Art of Loongkoonan is a collaboration between the Embassy of Australia, Washington DC; the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia; and the Mossenson Art Foundation, Perth, Australia. January to August 2016.