Cultural Maintenance
The maintenance and ongoing transmission of Warlpiri culture to the next generation is an integral part of Warlukurlangu's mission.
For many years Warlukurlangu has run a school cultural maintenance program. Small boards are distributed to school children during the school holidays. This gives the children the opportunity to practice their traditional designs and learn the stories associated with them as well as earning a little bit of spending money for buying ice-creams on a long, hot, lazy summer day.
The art centre also annually supports young men's initiation camps by financially helping the families to provide food for the business camps. The art centre also provides ochre, feathers and hairstring for the camps.
The art centre also financially helps 'sorry' camps by providing food, water and money for blankets.
The art centre is also very proud of it's painting and story archives, possibly one of the best in the country. These are an important repository of local stories and culture. Since 1986 every painting has been sold with an accompanying certificate which can be used to verify that paintings provenence and authenticity forever. One copy of the certificate is given to the client, one copy has always been kept at the art centre where it is carefully filed and archived by skin name.
Each certificate tells the story of the painting. These archives are an incredibly valuable cultural resource. This art centre has worked tirelessly over the last few years to fill in all the gaps in these archives and is very proud of them, believing them to be one of the best in the country.
