A Community in Crisis
Nestled along the banks of one of the Top End’s most flood-prone rivers lies a small arts centre that has become a beacon for Indigenous artists whose work has gained international acclaim. The Merrepen Arts Centre, located in Nauiyu, 220 kilometres south of Darwin in the Northern Territory, has been a vital part of the community, nurturing talent and producing designs worn by Australian models and politicians alike.
However, this month, the centre was swept away when the Daly River experienced its worst flooding on record. For local Indigenous artist Kieren Karritpul, the loss felt like losing the “mother of the community.”
“It was devastating for all of us,” he says. “When we first came to Darwin, we weren’t expecting to see what we saw in the pictures [of the flooding].”
Kieren, a Ngen’giwumirri man, is one of hundreds still displaced by the continued inundation. The Daly River community has been evacuated twice already this year due to flooding, with many residents forced to leave with little warning as the water levels rose rapidly.
Many in evacuation centres are waiting for the floodwaters to subside so damage can be assessed, but early photos and videos reveal that the entire community has been submerged. Based on aerial footage he’s seen of Nauiyu, Mr Karritpul believes the two Merrepen Arts Centre buildings have been destroyed, with thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment waterlogged. He also notes that many of the one-of-a-kind screens used by Merrepen artists to print unique fabrics have been lost.
“We weren’t expecting a flood to come this year,” he says. The centre’s artists are now selling some of the works they were able to bring with them to Darwin, holding a pop-up store last weekend to help raise funds to replace lost machinery and supplies.
A ‘Happy Place’ for Many
For the past six years, Pam Mahoney and her husband have made the journey of over 3,300 kilometres from Kilaben Bay in New South Wales to spend half of the year in Nauiyu. While her partner fishes for Barramundi on the Daly River, Ms Mahoney passes the time by creating garments and teaching people in the remote community to sew.
“That was just my happy place,” she says. “I’ve become involved with Kieran, his mother and the whole family. I just love them and love the community.”
During a break from browsing the pop-up collection, Ms Mahoney says there has never been a more important time to support her friends in Nauiyu. “For what they’ve lost, it’s really sad,” she says. “Even all the sewing machines, but especially all their fabrics that they lost … and not had time to keep them safe.”
Darwin local Karen Dempsey also decided to pick up some of Merrepen’s famous textiles while looking for a “good wet season hobby.” “I love the fabrics, particularly the screen-printed fabrics from community,” she says. “I have no idea what I’m going to make with them, but I really want a fabric. They’re just, they’re beautiful.”
Coping with Loss
For Mr Karritpul, the impromptu shop was a welcome distraction from thinking about his home being under water. “It’s been a really hard time, being stuck in Darwin with nothing to do,” he says. “I do paintings at the hotel just to keep busy.”
After the community suffered an earlier devastating flood on Boxing Day in 2015, a young Mr Karritpul worked on a mural depicting the disaster and the clean-up effort that followed. He now hopes to memorialise the latest flood in a similar way when he eventually returns home.
