Babbarra Designs creates fine indigenous textile art. We are based at Maningrida in central Amhem Land and operate out of the Babbarra Women’s Centre. The Women’s Centre in Maningrida began as a women’s refuge in the 1980′s. Now a women’s CDEP centre it provides employment and training opportunities through the establishment and operation of appropriate small business enterprises. Babbarra Designs, our textile are business is the centre’s major activity.

At Babbarra Designs our artists have negotiated traditional practices with introduced materials and techniques to develop new and original textiles. Influenced by the brightly coloured fashions favoured by the women of Maningrida and traditional subject matter their textiles are vibrant, innovative pieces of art.

The women produce lino-tile designs and print these on fabric with up to three layers of colour. Each piece of lino-fabric is unique with varying tile and colour combinations. Our textile artists also hand paint their lino-tiled fabric further enhancing the creativity of individual pieces.

Babbarra Designs print fine silk-screened fabrics from original artwork designed by our artists. We currently have 20 screen print designs to choose from in one and two colour combinations.

All Babbarra Designs products are printed on 100% cotton and heat set in a professional fabric oven.