Arts Law Visits Art Centres in the Top End

Donna Robinson sitting with an artist from Injalak
Donna Robinson with artist Maath Maralngurra at Injalak Art Centre. Photo by Tamara Sims.

Arts Law has been on the road in May, visiting Injalak Arts at Gunbulanya in the Northern Territory. The art centre, set by a beautiful lagoon, can only be accessed by traversing Cahills Crossing when travelling there by road from Darwin or Jabiru, a section of the drive which is famous for the crocodiles that pass through it and the tides which affect the height and speed of the water.

A photograph of a road sign in the Northern Territory featuring a town named East Alligator
A road sign near Cahill’s Crossing as the Arts Law team travelled through crocodile (or alligator!) country. Photo by Donna Robinson.

In Injalak, we met lovely artists and art centre staff during our stay. We found it a pleasure to be able to provide legal assistance in areas such as copyright, cultural tours, wills and estates. Injalak artists have a wide range of art practices, from pandanus weaving to painting, carving to fabric printing.

Accompanying us on this trip was a lawyer from the firm Colin Biggers & Paisley. Their support extended our reach to artists in remote communities like Gunbulanya. CBP have also formed a close working relationship with Injalak as part of our Adopt-a-Lawyer program, and this was a good opportunity for them to get to know each other and discuss the ways in which they can exchange legal knowledge as well as cultural and artistic practices going forwards.