Arthurina Moreen

 

b. 2000, Larrakia Country/Darwin, Northern Territory.
Tiwi people
Murrakupupuni (Country): Yangtanga/Purumpunali; Yimunga (Tribe): Takaringuwi (Scaly Mullet); Yoyi (Dance): Kaluputi (Black Whip Snake)

Arthurina Moreen, a rising star in the Northern Territory AFL women’s football league, began working at Jilamara Arts in 2021 as a screen printer. She has also developed her own bright and colorful designs, learning to paint from senior artists at the art center.

 

Artist Portrait

Arthurina Moreen. Courtesy of the artists and Jilamara Arts.
Photo: Will Heathcote

Jilamara 2025
Ngiya jilamara II 2025
Jilamara 2025
Ngiya jilamara II 2025
Ngiya jilamara II 2025
Locally sourced ochres on stringybark
cat. no. 106–25, 123–25, 89–25, 82–25, 83–25

Courtesy of the artist and Jilamara Arts & Crafts, Milikapiti

Commissioned by UNSW Galleries with the support of the New Contemporaries Fund for the exhibition ‘Parlingarri Amintiya Ningani Awungarra: Old and New at Jilamara Arts’ at UNSW Galleries.

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All Tiwi people are connected through a rich cosmology and a complex system of inheritance. Each person receives their yiminga (skin group or tribe) from their mother, and their yoyi (dance) and murrakupupuni (Country) from their father. These ancestral ties are expressed through song, dance, and body painting—designs known as jilamara—which are central to kulama (coming of age) and pukumani (mourning) ceremonies. During these rituals, the living are painted to camouflage themselves from spirits, and ceremonial objects such as tutini (poles) and tunga (baskets) are adorned with ochres sourced from the land.

Arthurina Moreen began her creative journey as a screenprinter and is now developing her painting practice, honouring traditional forms of jilamara under the guidance of senior artists at Jilamara Arts. These senior artists have played a pivotal role in translating ceremonial jilamara into contemporary visual languages, shaping the wider recognition of Tiwi visual culture. Moreen continues this legacy bringing her own designs to a tradition deeply rooted in the stories, symbols, and ceremonies of the Tiwi People.