mowanjum art and culture centre

This centre is a big surprise! You come off the Gibb River Road and enter this obvious new centre. The Community dog will greet you, and for those of us who understand, you will not be critical of the surrounds, because inside is collection of amazing culture, art and history. Whether you like it, or understand and accept it, is up to the individual, but aboriginal art is the "window" to their story and their story is not always pleasant. But history is just that! Where we as Australians take that story in future is in our hands. Embrace it, grasp it, buy it, because this centre explains it better than any other we have seen. The staff on our day were local and informed, friendly and enthusiastic, the art available was excellent, a bit pricey, but excellent. Derby has a lot to offer, enjoy!

There are a lot of indigenous art galleries in the Kimberley and the quality is pretty variable but Mowanjam gallery has some of the best works that we saw anywhere. The building itself is modern and well designed and there is a video presentation to provide some background. Personally I found the paintings so engaging and thought provoking that I couldn't spare the time to watch the video. Don't expect any bargains; the best of the paintings are wonderful, they deserve to be expensive and they are, but not for what they are.

The centre is huge with a variety of media's for the art and culture seeking. Beautiful works line the walls and floors, along with books and craft pieces.

I visited the Mowanjum arts when it was in the community hall in 1999. I remember seeing over a dozen artists happily sitting around with babies, dogs and canvasses containing some of the best aboriginal art I have ever seen. I do seem to remember a nice grassed area outside where many people white and black were sitting on rocks chatting. My visit to the new art centre was nowhere near as memorable. The first view form the road frames a car park up against a circular wall. The place is surrounded by a hideous looking barbed wire fence. The landscaping is non existent. Not a single blade of grass or even signs of newly planted trees. There is a baobab tree and a few native trees barely alive. After parking in the most desolate dust bowl, the front of the building becomes visible. I am told that about 8 non-descript cicular car ports are not for cars at all, but are meant to be outdoor display features. The building has a huge front balcony which is completely deserted. The lobby or entrance area is big bright and impressive. The staff were not engaging and their knowledge of the artwork was very limited to say the least. The art was very repetitive and poorly hung. Far too many paintings crammed together. It had the feeling of a supermarket sale. It seems that a lot effort has gone into a very realistically painted rock cave but it was spoilt by a few chunks and scratches showing the white plastic substance underneath. I must say the film was very well made and enjoyable and gave me hope for these wanjina artists. I felt I was sitting the wrong way around in the strange shaped viewing room. I don't like to be so negative but my fond memories of my previous visit in 1999 have biased my review. Last time I met so many happy artists and everything seemed so real and natural. Maybe I am being a bit picky.

Spent an hour or so there and ended up buying a painting. Very impressive building and art inside, tribute to the owners

A well set up gallery with a good video to give the visitor some background into the local culture. A wide range or works for sale and no pressure to buy.

We were pleasantly surprised by the Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre.We were greeted and encouraged to watch the 18 minute movie, which we found very interesting.Well worth a visit.Art from the $30 children's pieces to the art worth thousands, enjoyed it all

After two others recommended this place, we decided to visit. We watched an interesting video of the history of the Windjana people and their culture. There are numerous artworks for sale (from about $500 to $16,000), which seemed a lot to us but we're not experts.It's well worth reading the history of the Aboriginal peoples in The Kimberley, who were successively driven from their lands about 150 years ago. 4 stars

It was so nice to be welcomed with staff proud to show off their heritage with professionalism. Visitors must watch the 18 minute video as a starter. The art exhibition then becomes so much more interesting and understandable. This is a must see site if one is in the Derby area.

This gallery displays a lot of paintings done by the local aborigines and are all for sale. Some beautiful paintings are on display. They also show a video which gives you an understanding of the local aboriginal god called the Wandjina. Very interesting

Beautifully set up gallery about 5 km out of Derby off the Gibb River Road. Haunting pictures of the Wandjina spirit. Great audiovisual to give some background to the local Aboriginal culture (although the subtitles contained some imaginative spelling). Fully run by the local Mowanjum Aboriginal community. Definitely worth a visit.

Our second best visit because we took the time to watch the 18 minute movie that gave us an understanding of the history of the people and the significance of the Windjana.

The distinctive Wandjina art of this part of the Kimberleys is the drawcard at the Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre. An excellent display of artwork in every size and for every budget is on sale. The young indigenous staff were friendly and helpful and our purchases arrived promptly in Melbourne and the USA. And don't miss the excellent film about Mowanjum showing in the culture centre. A great insight into the indigenous experience, past and present.

I'd recommend stopping here on your way down the Gibb River Road and I'd recommend watching the video (free), which was very informative. The art work is probably alone worth a stop. The major disappointment was the ridiculous prices. I was very keen to buy some art and some t-shirts, but the prices were prohibitive. I wonder if they'd sell more if they had more reasonable prices.

Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre gives a fantastic insight into the local Aboriginal culture and their history. The staff are friendly, the video presentation was free and excellent - don't miss it - and the artworks are so meaningful. Highly recommend you make time to visit - the gift shop has a range of great books too. Congratulations to the Mowanjum community for such an excellent initiative.