People may think Bábbarra texta works are a new thing for Bábbarra Designs.  However, we have been using coloured fibre-tipped pens, pencils and crayons as part of our textile design process for a long time. Elizabeth Wullunmingu’s late mother D. Gingingara’s texta drawings were used by Desert Designs in the early 1990s.

Elizabeth shared her mother’s texta drawings with Babbarra Designs artists and we are learning from those drawings. So, it is an old idea that we are making new again. During COVID-19 lockdowns our studio was closed. We wanted to have something to do, so we started drawing instead. 

Dórdbalk kómabba translates to ‘good / everything’ in Ndjébbana language (the language of the traditional owners of Maningrida). We chose the name because texta drawing and colouring makes everyone feel good and many of the Kunibidji women are doing it. Our drawings and fabric are coming from the same ideas – our culture and traditional stories.

~ statement from the artists, Bábbarra Designs