Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming

A POWERFUL COLLAB ON CANVAS AND CARPET

Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is a cross-cultural collaboration between Warnman artist, Desmond Taylor, and Boorloo-based textiles practitioner, Mariaan Pugh, commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre in partnership with Martumili Artists.

Taylor and Pugh have worked together to transform Taylor’s Niminjarra paintings, usually seen on canvas or paper, into highly tactile textile works, animating the important Niminjarra Jukurrpa (Dreaming).

“Niminjarra is the two brothers transforming into a snake so they can come back home to Ngayartakujarra (Lake Dora). They were in training for ceremony, those two brothers, but they were kept too long, and nobody was there to release them. They waited then they decided to transform into snakes to travel back to where they came from, because their mother was waiting for them. This is Jukurrpa (Dreaming story).” – Desmond Taylor, 2019

Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is born of Taylor’s desire to see his artworks reimagined through a textile medium and is a contemporary crafting of important ancestral stories deeply rooted in Warnman Ngurra (Country).

Join the fun

Get creatively inspired by Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming with these great workshops:

Sessions & Times

Saturday, 15 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Sunday, 16 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Monday, 17 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Tuesday, 18 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Wednesday, 19 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Thursday, 20 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Friday, 21 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Saturday, 22 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Sunday, 23 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Monday, 24 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Tuesday, 25 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Wednesday, 26 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Thursday, 27 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Friday, 28 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Saturday, 29 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Sunday, 30 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Monday, 31 March

10:00am – 4:00pm

Tuesday, 01 April

10:00am – 4:00pm

Wednesday, 02 April

10:00am – 4:00pm

Thursday, 03 April

10:00am – 4:00pm

Friday, 04 April

10:00am – 4:00pm

Saturday, 05 April

10:00am – 4:00pm

Extra things to know
About the artists

Desmond Taylor is a Manyjilyjarra and Warnman man, who was born in 1964 near the Oakover River, moving to Jigalong soon after. Desmond’s family were among the last Martu to live entirely in the desert without access to rations or western supplies. He went to school in Nullagine and Perth and now works as a professional translator and educator, as well as maintaining an arts practice.

Desmond primarily paints his family’s Ngurra (Country) around Karlamilyi (Rudall River) and the creation narratives for that Country, especially the Niminjarra Jukurrpa (Dreaming) stories, and the associated narratives of the Jila Kujarra, narratives as enduring as the continent we live upon, kept safe by Warnman people for all to share.

Mariaan Pugh was born in the United Kingdom in 1993 but has spent much of her life in Western Australia. Mariaan undertook her formal arts training, majoring in Textiles at Curtin University, as well as further training in Fashion and Textile Design at North Metropolitan TAFE.

Drawn to vivid colour, playful motifs, and seductive tactile surfaces, Mariaan’s work subverts traditional textile techniques such as rug making, embroidery and weaving, creating works that defy categorisation, sitting between textile and painting, while exploring themes of interpersonal relationships, longing and distance.

Where to go

Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming will be on display at Festival Gallery – a brand new venue that can be found in between Joondalup Library and the City of Joondalup Administration, at 102 Boas Ave, Joondalup.

For more information about Festival Gallery, see Plan Your Festival.

Venue and Access

Festival Gallery is wheelchair accessible and can be entered via a ramped path from the car park.

Exhibition Information

From 3:00pm – 4:00pm every day is Quiet Hour at Festival Gallery, where any music will be played at a low volume and all guests will be asked to use quiet voices to reduce anxiety and sensory stress for visitors with varied needs.

Acknowledgements and image credit

The Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming collaborative project and exhibition was commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre and presented in partnership between Fremantle Arts Centre and Martumili Arts. This project is made possible through the Regional Exhibition Touring Boost with funding managed by Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and delivered by ART ON THE MOVE.

Image credit: Desmond Taylor and Mariaan Pugh, Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming at Fremantle Arts Centre, 2022. Photo by Dan McCabe.

Program details
When

15 March 2025 - 05 April 2025

View session times
Tickets

Free

Suitable for

All ages

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The City of Joondalup acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation.

We recognise the enduring culture of the Noongar people and pay our respects to Elders past and present, as well as all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.