Noeleen Danjibana Lalara
Anindilyakwa/Umbakumba (NT)
Danjibana is a senior artist and lead Art and Cultural Officer at Anindilyakwa Arts, and a board member of Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC) and Arnhem, Northern and Kimberley Artists (ANKA). Working predominantly at the Anindilyakwa Art Gallery, Noeleen is an active participant in the Art Centre’s external and creative programs, passionate about sharing the Centre's story and empowering community to keep cultural practices strong. Coming to the Art Centre originally as an artist in 2018, Noeleen has worked hard over the past five years to become a key member of the Centre's team and strong advocate for Anindilyakwa people and culture.
Artistically, Danjibana is known for her great storytelling, often fusing contemporary and traditional art practises to articulate her telling.
Maicie Lalara
Anindilyakwa/Umbakumba
Maicie Lalara is a talented artist and arts and culture officer at Anindilyakwa Arts and is based in Umbakumba community, on the east coast of Groote Eylandt. Maicie is an emerging leader on Eylandt. She is a passionate advocate for Learning on Country programs, strongly feeling the importance of actively engaging younger generations with art and Country, connecting them with their ancestors through creative practice. Maicie’s acceptance into the competitive ANKA Arts Worker Extension Program in 2023 highlights her dedication to her craft and expansion of her professional skills.
One of the Art Centre’s most experimental artists, Maicie is well known for her Yilkwa (monster fish) – character filled aquatic weavings created from a combination of locally salvaged ghost net, mangkurrkwa (pandanus) and other found and traditionally harvested materials. Maicie is rarely found not creating, being a talented natural dyer, print maker and fibre artist.
Charlene Wanambi
Anindikyakwa, Yolngu Matha/FourMile Outstation
Charlene is a senior artist who lives at Four Mile Outstation, originally from Baniyala community in Blue Mud Bay. At Four Mile Outstation she learned from her grandmothers, Elsie and Maureen Bara, and teaches her daughter Sheanah.
Charlene is best known for her creative statement jewellery pieces, made from local shells and seeds collected across the island by her and her family. Charlene has also lived in Gove for several years doing sewing for work, before returning to Groote Eylandt in early 2022.
Tanielle Marawili
Yolngu Matha, Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation, Baniyala
Tanielle Marawili is an emerging artist from Four Mile Outstation, who carries the rich background of her Yolngu upbringing in Baniyala. Guided by her family elders, she has begun working across a range of art practices, including weaving and painting. Currently, Tanielle is working closely with the Art Centre to develop her bush dye skills, working on collaborative bush dye projects, including the 2023 Country to Couture fashion range.
Meghan Wanambi
Anindilyakwa, Yolgnu Matha/Four Mile Outstation
Meaghan Wanambi, a talented artist from Four Mile Outstation, draws inspiration from her roots in the Baniyala Community of Blue Mud Bay. With a focus on painting, bush dye, and jewellery, Meaghan's artistic practice has flourished in collaboration with her sisters and family.
Exploring a diverse range of mediums, she paints on shells, bark and wood, carefully collected from the surrounding outstation. This year, she has also participated in several collaborative bush dye projects at the Umbakumba Art Centre.
Sheanah Marawili
Anindilyakwa, Yolgnu Matha/Four Mile Outstation
Sheanah Shakita Marawili is an arts and cultural officer at the Umbakumba Art Centre and a talented, emerging artist. Originally from Baniyala in Blue Mud Bay, she was first taught art skills from family on mainland and continues to learn with her senior female members at Four Mile Outstation.
Working closely with other artists at the Art Centre, both learning and teaching, Sheanah has quickly become talented at bush dye practices and wearable art pieces. Creating with locally collected seeds, seashells and dyes, Sheanah has become known for her intricate wearable art pieces inspired by traditional body adornment. Some of these pieces were shown in the 2023 Country to Couture collection.
Leshana Marawili
Yolgnu Matha, Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation, Baniyala
Leshana Marawili is a young emerging artist from Four Mile Outstation. Guided by her family elders from Baniyala, as well as her sisters Sheanah and Tanielle, she embraces traditional art practices, including weaving and dyeing. Leshana is currently focused on building her bush dye skills and has been a part of key collaborative bush dye projects this year.
Elsie Bara
Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation
Elsie Bara, a senior Anindilyakwa artist, lives with her family at Four Mile Outstation. Renowned as a master weaver and bush string artist, she is a key teacher for young artists, ensuring the continuity of these cultural traditions. Elsie is also skilled in bush dyeing and has contributed to various fashion lines at the Art Centre. Elsie finds immense joy in the process of creating baskets and gayuwa (dilly bag) at the Art Centre. Elsie credits her mother, who shared the secrets of gayuwa and basket weaving with her.
Charmaine Kerindun
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Charmaine is an arts and culture officer at Anindilyakwa Arts, situated at Angurugu Women's Art Centre. Born in Aurukun (QLD), she is a talented artist who explores diverse mediums such as jewellery making, printmaking, and weaving. Her artistic practice intertwines traditional and contemporary approaches, seen in her celebrated ‘new ways dillybags’, and her experimental bush dyeing produces distinct patterns in her work.
Committed to knowledge sharing in her arts worker role, she generously imparts her skills to other artists and actively engages in youth programs, ensuring the sharing of traditional skills for future generations.
Sanora Mamarika
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Sonora Mamarika, an emerging artist based in Angurugu Community, embraces a diverse range of traditional and contemporary artistic practices under the guidance of her mother, Charmaine. With a passion for learning, Sonora works in multiple disciplines, including bush dyeing, jewellery, weaving, and printing. Her lino prints on paper vividly depict stories of Country.
Sharna Wurramara
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Sharna Wurrumara, an arts and cultural Officer and key artist of the Angurugu community, is best known for her weaving. Guided by the knowledge passed down from her mothers and grandmothers, Sharna creates contemporary jewellery and baskets. She is also an experimental bush dyer and has contributed to several Art Centre fashion lines.
As an arts and cultural officer, she has played a vital role in teaching and supporting fellow artists. Sharna is committed to keeping culture and community strong in her role at the Art Centre.
Arrabella Wanambi
Anidilyakwa/Angurugu
Arrabella (Kearaisha) is an emerging artist from Angurugu community. Joining in early 2023, she has been committed to developing her skills in bush dye, weaving and lino printing. Arrabella draws inspiration from her family in Elcho Island (Galiwin'ku) who are established artists and cultural leaders and is inspired to learn a range of traditional arts practices from both her Elcho and Groote Eylandt families.
Patricia Lalara
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Patricia Lalara is a talented emerging artist, based in Angurugu Community. She specialises in lino printing, using intricate designs to tell stories. She has a strong eye for detail, using complex patterns to create fluid movement in her works. Beyond lino printing, she lends her bush dyeing skills to collaborative fashion and textile projects. Guided by her family, arts worker Charmaine, Patricia embraces learning a diverse range of traditional and contemporary artistic practices.
Vanessa Watt
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Vanessa is an emerging artist from Angurugu. She works in traditional art practices, including weaving and dyeing. Currently, she is developing her bush dye skills and has been part of key collaborative bush dye projects in 2023, including fashion.
Angela Robyn Williams
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Robyn Williams, originally from Mornington Island, is an artist and an arts and cultural officer at Angurugu. Taught by her grandmother, Robyn is a talented weaver who works across a range of fibre mediums, including with ghost net, pandanus and recycled materials. Robyn also experiments with lino printing and bush dye, reflecting stories of Country and community. As a dedicated arts worker, she plays a pivotal role in the sharing of cultural and artistic knowledge, including to her several daughters who are now following in her footsteps as artists themselves.
Maureen Bara
Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation
Maureen Bara is a senior Anindilyakwa artist who lives at Four Mile Outstation. She works alongside her sister Elsie Bara, creating intricate weavings, bush string works and jewellery. Making artworks from her outstation, she has played a pivotal role in sharing knowledge and teaching other young family members to make art alongside her.
Raychelle Herbert
Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation, Umbakumba
Raychelle is an emerging artist from Four Mile Outstation. Surrounded by several artistic family members and elders, she is learning to work in traditional art practices, including weaving and dyeing.
Finola Lalara
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Finola Lalara is an emerging artist from Angurugu community. Guided by her sister Maicie Lalara, a respected senior artist and arts worker, Finola has learned weaving and natural dyeing. Often, they work closely together creating bush dye pieces.
Marcia Mamarika
Anindilyakwa/Thompson Bay
Marcia Mamarika is a talented senior artist from Thompson's Bay Outstation, near Umbakumba Community. She works across fibre art, bush dyeing, printing and jewellery making. Marcia is best known for blending traditional and contemporary practices in her works, using materials like ghost net, recycled bush dyed silk and locally collected seeds, seashells and dyes. Marcia is a highly collaborative artist, contributing her bush dyeing skills to fashion and textile projects.
Vera Lalara
Anindilyakwa/Four Mile Outstation
Vera Lalara is a senior artist working from Four Mile Outstation. Engaging in various mediums such as weaving, carving, and bush dyeing, she shares her skills and passion for traditional art forms. Vera's practice has been significantly influenced by her mother-in-law, Elsie Bara, who has imparted the traditional knowledge of pandanus and bush string weaving. Together, they weave side by side, sharing the old ways. Vera plays a vital role in keeping the cultural practises alive and vibrant at Four Mile Outstation.
Jeanelle Mamarika
Anindilyakwa/Umbakumba
Jeanelle Mamarika is an arts and cultural officer at Umbakumba Art Centre and an accomplished weaver, taught by her aunty Edith Mamarika. She is highly skilled in making mangkurrkwa (pandanus) weavings, creating baskets, bowls, belts, and earrings. Jeanelle is a key teacher of these skills, passing down traditional practices to the younger generations in Umbakumba.
Working with the Art Centre for several years, Jeanelle has contributed to various Art Centre projects, including two Country to Couture collections and a Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards entry (2023).
Annabell Amagula
Anindilyakwa/Angurugu
Annabell Amagula is an important senior artist and arts and cultural officer from Angurugu Community. Highly skilled in traditional fibre crafts, she is a master string maker and weaver who teaches younger generations to keep cultural knowledge strong.
She is best known for her bright contemporary weavings, where she repurposes old fabrics, bush dyed silks and pandanus to create two-dimensional weavings. She teaches national and international audiences, facilitating ghost net weaving workshops at art fairs, festivals, schools and universities.
In 2019, she participated in an artist in residence program with Asialink in Indonesia where she delivered workshops and developed new works to creatively address environmental issues affecting sea life and coastal communities in Australia and Indonesia. Annabell has also been a central artist in developing contemporary bush dye practices collaborating on fashion projects in 2017–2023.
