GAPU: THE STORY OF PRINTMAKING AT DJILPIN ARTS
A special exhibition almost 20 years in the making opens the 2026 program at Midpul Art Gallery.
WORDS TIERNEY WHITE
Gapu: The Story of Printmaking at Djilpin Arts features more than 100 works from the Art Centre in Wugularr/Beswick. It all started in 2007 when Djilpin invited printmaker Basil Hall to facilitate printmaking workshops for the community, returning 12 times in the years since to a packed house.
Gapu means water in Yolŋu language and is the undercurrent that ties the works together. General Manager of Djilpin Arts Fleur Parry says, although the works range in colour and style, water flows throughout.
“There's always a mix, but what was always recurring through the prints was that foundational sense of water in people's lives,” she says.
“In a literal sense, a lot of the prints are classic billabong scenes with different fish, but then there's ones that focus on bird life. Even the ones that are around the idea of traditional weaving, that's pandanus that grows in the spring Country. I couldn't pull a single print that didn't relate somehow to that sense of water.
“And Beswick, it's a freshwater place in spring Country – lots of spring Country for those artists that are from further up into Arnhem Land – so there's beautiful, beautiful different bush harvest ones. Always, water is present.”
Something special about this exhibition, given the works span almost 20 years, is that artists from the same family are reunited on the gallery wall, including those no longer with us.
“There's at least three generations going on … There's sadness with looking at that generational thing, too, because quite a number of artists that are represented that have passed away,” Parry says.
In her first exhibition as Midpul Art Gallery Manager and Curator, Clare Armitage notes diversity of the works as a defining characteristic due to the varied participants over the years as well as guest facilitators.
“After almost two decades of making, there's all the individual styles of the artists involved during that time. The different methods of printmaking, too – etchings, screen prints, woodblocks, and that's where the other part of the story comes in, which is, of course, the role of the printmakers who come and facilitate the workshops, and printmaking is fabulously collaborative,” she says.
“There may have been a printmaker helping to facilitate one year who had particular expertise in Japanese style woodblocks, for example, and that means the artists are then able to explore telling these very old, beautiful stories in a particular kind of way.”
The pieces reflect the artists, their stories, and families, so seeing these works come together in one place is precious. Also adding to the heart of this one is the team driving it behind the scenes.
Parry and Armitage have worked on various projects together over the years, Parry in her capacity as GM of Djilpin Arts, and Armitage in her various roles in the NT arts community. One particularly special project was the opening of the new amphitheatre at Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre (GYRACC) last year where Armitage was Chief Executive Officer.
It is named after the late and great Balang T.E. Lewis, Parry’s husband and co-founder of Djilpin Arts. Parry says this sense of community and working together is a beautiful thing about the Territory.
“It's lovely. It just reminds you, in the Northern Territory – through all its changes and whatever happens in politics – there's a genuine sense of community. People remember you, and they remember your work, and you can connect back so easily and nicely.”
For Armitage – being the first curated exhibition in her tenure at Midpul – being able to reconnect with Djilpin and support the beautiful work of its artists is something she’s proud to be a part of.
“I'm just really fortunate to have the relationship with Djilpin, with the artists, and with Fleur. I’m happy to help to share their story, and celebrate their story. They're an Art Centre that have been working, really, sort of quietly and consistently for a long time, and the works are beautiful,” she says.
“There's also the resonance of the CDU Art Collection having such an amazing collection of works on paper, so there's a nice connection there to be able to put on an exhibition that is celebrating the medium of printmaking.”
Looking back at the development of printmaking at Djilpin Arts, Gapu emphasises the importance of art in the ongoing preservation of knowledge, language, and intergenerational memory, and collectively testifies to 20 years of artistic and cultural continuity and collaboration.
WHEN FRI 20 MAR – SAT 2 MAY | OPENING FRI 20 MAR, 6PM | ARTIST TALK SAT 21 MAR, 11AM-12PM
AT MIDPUL ART GALLERY
INFO cdu.edu.au/artgallery
Image: Peter Lindsay, 'Billabong', 2011, etching
