Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art a highlight of Herne Hill

Combining roles as an art gallery, art school, gift shop, cafe, community discussion forum and cultural workshop, the Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art shop at Swan Valley Central Shopping Mall, on the corner of Great Northern Highway and Lennard Street, Herne Hill, stands out on a valley tourist trail based around quirky boutique businesses.

Aside from the weekend tourist trade, since it opened in November, Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art has begun attracting a growing clientele of regular customers who call in for a coffee, something different to eat and a chat.

One of the attractions is visitors feel able to ask questions about the indigenous art, weaving and artifacts on display - which range from jewellery made with quandong seeds to wood carvings to decorated boomerangs, bags and cups.

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A featured item is a dress created from the bark, nuts and seeds of the melaleuca quinquenervia tree, better known as the broad leaf paperbark, by Perth Hills artist Lyn Blasgund, who is renowned for her wearable art creations.

Ms Wyborn has had works displayed overseas, purchased for corporate art collections and pieces from her shop go to Italy and Singapore.

Apart from her own art, craftwork and fabric designs on show - she invites other indigenous artists and artisans from across Western Australia to display their works.

Talented daughter Ivy is one who has accepted the invitation.

Sometimes visitors ask about bush tucker or indigenous culture, reassured by the comfortable, non-judgemental, non-discriminatory and non-aggressive environment of the shop, that their lack of knowledge does not offend and their interest in learning more is appreciated.

Apart from Ms Wyborn, the shop is generally staffed by younger members of her extended family and network of friends.

She has a niece who comes down from Fitzroy Crossing during school holidays to help.

For her niece and others who visit from the north, it is a valuable opportunity to sample a possible career in retail or hospitality and to talk to and serve customers who are total strangers.

It is an opportunity they might not normally get at home, even in some of the larger towns, Ms Wyborn points out.

Some of her regular customers now ask personal questions of Ms Wyborn about her family and her upbringing in Broome and on the Dampier Peninsula.

She is a proud descendant of the Djugan and Yawuru peoples of the Broome area - the tidal flats of Roebuck Bay are Djugan-Yawuru country - and the Bardi and Jawi peoples whose traditional country is further north on the peninsula and includes the joint community of One Arm Point.

Her mother was also an artist and she watched and learned from her - both about traditional painting and her family heritage.

"I've been an artist all my life, my mum taught me how to paint when I was very young and taught me all the stories from the old people," Ms Wyborn said.

"I grew up at the Broome courthouse markets - I used to help mum sell her art, for 20-odd years she had her stall there under the big boab tree and we learned how to connect and converse with people from all walks of life.

"When I was old enough to sell my own works I put my paintings in the stall.

"Now I teach my children (apart from Ivy, she has sons Chase and Dre) how to paint and the old stories."

Sometimes, visitors to the shop feel comfortable enough to broach more controversial subjects related to past and present race relations and attitudes - no topic is taboo and answers from an indigenous perspective are direct and honest.

Discussion of indigenous-related topics frequently avoided in mainstream Australian conversation is often encouraged at workshops ostensibly to teach visitors about traditional indigenous art.

"What I facilitate (at the workshops) is cultural awareness through art," Ms Wyborn explains.

"I connect with my participants on a very, very deep level to gain understanding and respect, because (art) is a safe and open space to have conversations.

"You'd be surprised at how many people still have not heard the truth - the fact there was a white-only policy in Australia, our people had to give up their identity in order to become Australian citizens.

"There's a lot of things like that, that we talk about in the workshops.

"About 95 per cent of my participants are only just hearing this information now - I think it is great they are eventually hearing it, because it allows them to gain a deeper understanding of why some things happen.

"I don't condone violence in any way or anti-social behaviours, but there is always a reason why someone is acting the way they are.

"We have a good healthy discussion about that and while we yarn I place my family's timeline against Australian history - particularly my parents' lives - and we have a discussion about how that bears up.

"It's very personal and some of it is very difficult to talk about, but somebody has got to do it.

"I've taught almost 2000 people since I've started - that's a lot of people."We (also) yarn about the meanings of the paintings, it's not just abstract.

"Some people describe our work as child-like, but we are simplistic people, we see things and we paint it.

"We don't have to be extravagant because we are storytellers and that is when the paintings come to life.

"There's a couple of hours where we sit and yarn and paint and I call upon my participants to essentially paint their own - identity everyone loves it," she said.

Ms Wybern, husband David and other family members prepare and cook most of the food items sold at Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art.

They use lemon myrtle, Geraldton wax, bush basil (prostanthera rotundifolia), sea parsley, gubinge (Kakadu plum, high in Vitamin C), boab powder and wattle seeds for flavour and as garnish.

"I love cooking and I love it when people can taste those bush elements in it and their faces light up," Ms Wyborn said.

"I have young ones who come in after school and I give them a taste of my daughter's yum balls which are made with Geraldton wax - no rum, but Geraldton wax - and I love watching the kids' reaction to that, it makes my heart sing.

"We make our toasties with salt bush (crushed dried leaves) and pepper berries.

"We love testing and trying new elements to see how they come together with the bush herbs and spices."

Ms Wyborn is also a designer - last year she became the first indigenous woman to design the Mr and Miss NAIDOC crowns, in 2020 she designed shirts for Broome Sea Rescue and in 2019 she designed NAIDOC awards for Goolarri Media.

She is planning to launch a fashion line at her shop in August which could see the paperbark dress being worn on the runway.

"It's fashion launch - something I've been wanting to do for a long time," she said.

"It will be a cocktail event, late afternoon and evening and we are going to have quite a few indigenous models and other indigenous designers, indigenous food platters, live music and young indigenous artists."

Ms Wybern's fashion creations will no doubt become yet another topic for discussion at her indigenous art workshops and over morning coffees at Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art.

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Sammy Wyborn Aboriginal Art