The Bábbarra Women’s Centre is based in Maningrida, Arnhem Land, and is governed by women, for women, to enable future enterprises that support healthy and sustainable livelihoods.

The name ‘Bábbarra’ comes from a Kunibídji women’s site, a fertile freshwater billabong south of the community. Established as a women’s refuge in the early 1980s, Ndjébbana leader Helen Williams founded the centre with a strong vision for Maningrida women’s rights. 

During the 1990s, Bábbarra artists began working in etching, lithography and screenprinting through a series of workshops and, over time, our collection of screenprint designs grew. One of the oldest continuously operating Indigenous textile enterprises in Australia, today Bábbarra supports more than 25 artists, and has over 70 screen designs reflecting imagery from a diverse range of Arnhem Land country and cultures.

Bábbarra now designs and hand-prints textiles that are sold around the world. In 2019, five women from the centre travelled to Paris to exhibit their work – an incredible achievement that recognises the international importance of their art.

In 2018, the Bábbarra Women’s Centre began a journey of collaboration with textiles homeware brand Kip&Co. Over two years Kip&Co worked closely with Bábbarra artists and to create a collection that respectfully showcases their contemporary art, and tells the ancestral stories of Arnhem Land counties and cultures.