We are delighted to announce that the Laarri Arts Centre is expanding online! Over the past 12 months the Laarri Arts Centre has been going through many exciting changes. We have a wonderful new gallery space and workshop and have been building new creative skills whilst spending lots of time celebrating culture and making work in our new collaborative space and out bush. Laarri Arts Centre is a place for local artists to work and showcase their art and craft. The workshop is a dynamic space to practice both traditional and contemporary ways of working whilst exploring and sharing culture.
The arts centre is a small not-for-profit gallery located in Yiyili Community on Gooniyandi Land which is 170 kilometres east of Fitzroy Crossing and 120 kilometres west of Halls Creek and 5km from the Great Northern Highway. Our country has been Gooniyandi country since people first walked this land. Art lets us put down what we know and feel about the land and our culture. The gallery was established in 1999 in a collaboration between Yiyili Community Indigenous Corporation and Yiyili Aboriginal Community School. It is a place for young and old to work alongside one another on country and is an important teaching tool for the maintenance of Gooniynadi language and culture.
Working in such a remote location is challenging for artists trying to get their work out into the world. We are thrilled to announce that our gallery will soon be going online to establish the opportunity to sell our work remotely and share our stories far and wide. The website will be a platform for exhibiting the work created by our artists and share the events associated with our community, culture and art making process. Paintings, ceramics, textiles and traditional artefacts are amongst the products that will be available to purchase that will be packed and sent to your door, wherever you are.
At Yiyili the money raised from artwork sales goes directly back into the community, not only supporting the artists, but the community at large. Our artists are women and men from Gooniyandi country which includes the communities of Yiyili, Ganinyi, Girriyoowa, Goolgaradah, Rocky Springs, Kurinyjarn and Moongardie. Community elders work alongside the young to share knowledge and support one another in their creative approach to continuing traditional practices and culture.
By buying artwork from our Gooniyandi artists you will be supporting the creative development and confidence of our artists ultimately having a positive impact on the lives and the cultural maintenance of this community.
We look forward to sharing our vibrant work and stories with you.