Artists of Waringarri Aboriginal Arts
- BOAB100 Wesfarmers Centenary Gift Commission 2013- cast aluminium with ink infill
BOAB100: A Wesfarmers and Waringarri Creative Partnership
In 2013 Wesfarmers Arts and Waringarri Art Centre brought together 15 Indigenous Kimberley artists to create an original limited-edition gift to mark the Centenary of Wesfarmers in 2014. In choosing a centenary gift Wesfarmers was committed to investing in our creative communities.
Inspired by the iconic boab tree and an artform unique to the East Kimberley region of Western Australia – the tradition of boab nut carving – 15 designs by senior and emerging Waringarri artists have been cast from the original carvings as fine art sculptures in polished aluminium.
Honouring the centenary theme, each boab design is reproduced in a limited edition of 100 sculptures signed by the artist, numbered and stamped with the Wesfarmers Centenary seal.
Two complete sets of the BOAB100 suite of 15 sculptures have been gifted by Wesfarmers in 2014 to the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Additional sets are held in the Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, Australia House London and the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Museum archive.
Translating a traditional artform into the contemporary medium of cast aluminium has enabled Waringarri to trial a range of new approaches to artform development and audience reach in partnership with specialist art and architectural production house Urban Art Projects, operating in Brisbane and Shanghai.
The BOAB100 centenary gift project is a celebration of living culture and creative enterprise.