PERTH.- A striking new work from renowned artist Daniel Walbidi has been revealed as the first of eight commissions created as part of the Art Gallery of WA's expansive Aboriginal art exhibition Desert River Sea: Portraits of the Kimberley. Walbidi’s work forms part of this significant and wide-ranging exposition of Kimberley art, presented as part of the Perth Festival from 9 February 2019.

Daniel Walbidi, from the north-western Australian coast, is among a group of prominent artists who have emerged from this Kimberley region in the last ten years. His work for Desert River Sea is a departure in medium for the artist primarily known for his paintings of desert country. Wirnpa is an evocative installation and video work depicting a large-scale representation of Wirnpa – a salt lake in his ancestral Country in the Great Sandy Desert.

The work represents the merging of Walbidi's desert ancestry and coastal community life. It explores the idea of permanence and flux of Country and culture with a focus on the ephemeral nature of creation.

This exploration of new mediums and contemporary ways of sharing the oldest of stories is a vital element of the Desert River Sea exhibition and the broader six-year project from which it was born.

"Desert River Sea: Portraits of the Kimberley is the exciting culmination of the innovative Desert River Sea project. The six-year project saw a new model of collaboration between the Art Gallery of WA and the arts centres and artists of the Kimberley region. Founded on continual exchange and collaboration between AGWA and the artists, the project and exhibition were ultimately shaped by the people and the places of the Kimberley," says Carly Lane, AGWA Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

"The exhibition reflects this recognition of cultural ownership and self-determination. As in Daniel Walbidi's work, each of the artists and art centres has embraced the opportunity to share their stories of Country and lived experience, often through the expansion of their art-making practices. The result is an exciting, experimental and current look at contemporary Aboriginal art in the Kimberley."

Desert River Sea: Portraits of the Kimberley is the highly anticipated culmination of the Art Gallery of WA’s six-year Kimberley visual arts project, supported by Rio Tinto. This landmark exhibition showcasing the vibrant and contemporary creative talent of Kimberley artists opened with a cultural celebration on 9 February 2019. New works from six Kimberley art centres and three independent artists are being presented alongside a selection of legacy works from art centre collections. Together with works from AGWA’s collection, the exhibition offers a rare experience of the land, artists and art of the Kimberley.

Daniel Walbidi's work features as a two-part display with a site-specific installation using coloured pool salts to recreate Wirnpa, alongside an accompanying video work.

Artists and art centres also represented in the Desert River Sea exhibition include: Darrell & Garry Sibosado (Lombadina); Daniel Walbidi (Bidyadanga); Kira Kiro Art Centre (Kalumburu) and artist collectives from Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency (Fitzroy Crossing); Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre (Mowanjum); Waringarri Aboriginal Arts (Kununurra); Warlayirti Artists (Balgo); and Warmun Art Centre (Warmun).

The exhibition is co-curated by Carly Lane, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and Emilia Galatis, Community Liaison & Project Coordinator.