Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA. A stockman, he was one of the first people to take up residence at Warnum, near Turkey Creek, a settlement that was established as many indigenous pastoral workers lost their jobs in the mid 1970s. In 1977, Jaminji was chiefly responsible for creating the paintings used in the first Kurirr Kurirr (Krill Krill) ceremony, which arose out of a dream by Rover Thomas, to whom he was a classificatory uncle. Alongside Thomas, he instigated what is now known as the East Kimberly School of painting. He usually painted on board, but sometimes used canvas and made sculptures. From the mid-1980s, as his nephew's fame eclipsed his own, increasing blindness put a stop to Jaminji's career. His work was exhibited in The Continuing Tradition (1989), Images of Power (1993), Aratjara (1993-4) and Roads Cross (1994), the latter a Rover Thomas retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia. Perth's Holmes à Court Gallery mounted the retrospective Paddy Jaminji in late 2004.
