Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation
Curator Coby Edgar reflects on time spent in Peppimenarti with Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation artists, as they prepare for Powerhouse Castle Hill exhibition, Alchemy.
‘Regina and a few other women were already weaving on the deck when we arrived in the early morning. Weavers seem to start at the break of dawn and they keep going late into the night sometimes. It's continuous.’
It was August and a last-minute trip was tacked on to an already long few months of travelling. Emily McDaniel, the inaugural Powerhouse Director First Nations, had decided it was time to talk to Agency about the possibility of doing this show, Alchemy. Agency is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes First Nations art, culture and people, and facilitates investment in First Nations-led projects. It was THAT time of the year again. Garma, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Festival, the Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, National Indigenous Music Awards and National Indigenous Fashion Awards. I had missed Garma because I had caught COVID-19. Stuck in my tiny Sydney apartment, I waited for it to pass then headed to Darwin. Straight after these events, Emily had organised for the two of us to jump in a car with Agency CEO Kade McDonald and art projects manager Miriam La Rosa. We would head out to Peppimenarti to meet with Regina Pilawuk Wilson and talk natural dyes.
