Scarf | Silk Satin | Kira Kiro Spirits | Waringarri Arts

This vibrant scarf from Kira Kiro Aboriginal Arts Centre is the perfect gift, a very special artwork Kira Kiro Spirits (2018) by Betty Bundamurra, it comes packaged in a box with information on the artist and their work.

From the time of the beginning, called Lalai by Kwini people, the Kira Kiro have been the guardians and assistants of the Wandjina. They are good spirits and are also traditional dancers who sing about the yam and fruits that can be gathered when the wet season rains begin. The Kira Kiro spirits taught Aboriginal people what food to hunt and gather, and how to use certain plants and trees for medicines, how to care for the land, rivers and sea. They taught Aboriginal people about which trees are used for artefacts, where to find natural ochres, to look after rock art and sacred sites and where warriors are buried. From generation to generation Aboriginal people learn the knowledge of the Kira Kiro from their warriors and elders past and present. 

The artist Betty Bundamurra (born 1960) is now a prolific artist with a unique visual expression, a storyteller and a poet. Along with other Kalumburu community elders, she established the Kira Kiro Artists centre in 2009 and has also held the position of senior arts worker at Kira Kiro Artists from 2012 to 2019.

Kira Kiro Artists is an Aboriginal owned Art centre located in Kalumburu, on the land of the Kwini people in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Founded in 2009 and managed with assistance from Waringarri Arts, the Art Centre plays a pivotal role in fostering the transmission of cultural knowledge and storytelling through contemporary art making. Kira Kiro artists are renowned for their ochre painting and engraved boabs, which feature depictions of Kira Kiro, Gwion Gwion and Wandjina sprit figures found in the region?s ancient rock art.

Details:
Artist: Betty Bundamurra
105 x 105 cm
Silk satin
Australian made