Dusk over Perth city skyline
Photograph © Tourism WA
Kaya! (hello)
Djurandi Dreaming is a tour guiding and Aboriginal art company based in Perth, Western Australia (Wadjuk country).
Owned and operated by Wadjuk man Justin Martin, a qualified tour guide and Aboriginal artworks specialist. Justin’s traditional lands stretch over the Perth metropolitan region and a large part of the mid-west of Western Australia making him apart of the Nyungar and Yamatji nations.
Our tours and artworks are based around history, facts and creation stories that are hundreds of years old. The stories and dot paintings are passed down from generation to generation.
Our goal at Djurandi Dreaming is to positively educate and showcase our Aboriginal Culture in Western Australia while conserving culture, language and country.
We are proud to share our culture with you…
Dolphins dancing in Rockingham
Photograph © Dave Van Eldik
Stars of the southern hemisphere
Photograph © Tourism WA
Fire by night at Walyungup
Photograph © Trevor Walley
Wildflowers of Western Australia
Photograph © Tourism WA
Ancient lake Walyungup
Photograph © Tourism WA
Elizabeth Quay twilight tour
Photograph © Tourism WA
Perth's Swan River
Photograph © Tourism WA
Perth City by night
Photograph © Tourism WA
Penguin Island
Photograph © Tourism WA
Perth city from the sky
Photograph © Tourism WA
Pedestrian bridge at Elizabeth Quay
Photograph © Tourism WA
Point Peron
Photograph © Tourism WA
Tours & Activities
From tours in the Perth central business district to the other magical regions of Western Australia, Djurandi Dreaming want to share some amazing experiences with you. Book online or contact us today to make an enquiry.
**Ask us about our new Star Swamp Cultural Conservation Tour (2 hours) at Star Swamp Reserve, North Beach - perfect for large groups and schools based north of Perth**
Perth Cultural Tour
Dreaming in the Quay
Rockingham Cultural Tour
Boya Kaarla Point Peron Cultural Tour
Torchlight Tours
Lake Walyungup or Lake Richmond
Finding Yagan
Perth CBD and Yagan Square
Traditional Aboriginal Art Workshop
Indoor or outdoor venue of your choice
Kings Park Education Activities
Kings Park and Botanic Garden
School Groups and Workshops
All activities are fully customisable to suit your needs.
Yarning Session
Story telling, talk about seasons, art, tools, language, Nyungar people, local history OR you can pick your subject. 45 minutes, minimum 20 participants.
Yarning & Painting Session
An interactive art workshop. Learn stories and symbols behind Nyungar art while helping paint
a large group canvas. The organisation keeps the piece. All supplies included - minimum of 2 hours.
Traditional Art Activity
Students will learn symbols, stories and colours used in Nyungar art while making their own small piece to keep. All supplies included. 1 hour, minimum 20 participants, maximum 30 participants.
Cultural Walk
Any of my current tours or go for a walk through the local forest/nature reserve. We look for bush tucker, animals, insects and talk about the seasons and how it changes the environment, and the importance of spiritual acknowledgement for Nyungar people. Knowledge shared is adapted to the tour area.
contact Djurandi
ABN 12 379 193 489
Perth, Western Australia
* paper free company, postal address available on request
Online booking available!
about Djurandi Dreaming
My family and I started Djurandi Dreaming in 2017 aiming to deliver an exciting cultural experience to the local people of Perth and visitors to Western Australia.
Our incentive was to share cultural awareness and education to all tour participants. Djurandi Dreaming tours are designed around the culture of the traditional Nyungar people of the south west of Australia.
We love to engage our customers in great activities, secluded locations and visual surprises that make you stop, take a breath and appreciate this beautiful country we belong to.
I grew up spending time on country with my close and extended family. We hunted yonga / marlu (kangaroo), weitj / yellabidi (emu), bungarra (goanna), crabs and marron. We spent time fishing and swimming in the summer seasons of Birak and Bunuru. We would also gather bush tucker like quandongs, tree gum, bardi grubs and bush pear.
Te AIATSIS Map of Indigineous Australia
My traditional lands stretch over the Perth metropolitan region and a large part of the mid-west of Western Australia, making me apart of the Nyungar and Yamatji nations. We have a very special connection to the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River), being directly descended to some of the last known survivors of the Swan River Settlement.
Roughly about the age of four or five years old I was always interested in my great grandmother’s Jane Martin (deceased) dreamtime stories. She would often grab me and cuddle me, then tell me extraordinary dreamtime stories as if to lay claim to me as a child. It was within these moments that my great grand mother (Jane Martin) gave me an important connection to life and culture. An identity of who I am and where I come from, a creative traditional story line that has lasted thousands of years “stories that shaped peoples conscious”.
As years passed my parents took on the role as storyteller passing on cultural knowledge. My family had a lot to do with my understanding of the dreamtime and the creation of the country.
I first started to get interested in teaching my culture in my 20’s, I started painting and remembering more of the stories I was told growing up. My dot painting is an art passed down from generation to generation. The one person who really showed me the meaning of dot paintings and how to dot paint was my Grandmother Joan Margret Martin nee Lewis (deceased), a well-known Aboriginal Artist. My Grandmother was one of the main people in my life that helped me to become the artistic person I am today. Painting and story telling to me is a form of meditation and spiritual healing.
I was blessed in my adult years with the company of my Nanna – my Mum’s Mother and respected Nyungar Elder, Theresa Walley. Her knowledge has been inspirational in developing Djurandi Dreaming. Spending time with her on our country with our children passing down language, dreamtime stories and works of creation to our next generations. I am glad my children got to spend their early years with her, feeling her love and learning her stories. She showed us her home with her parents as a young girl and also took us all to visit the New Norcia Mission where she was sadly forced to stay until adulthood. We lost her in 2022 and I miss her deeply.
I hope you enjoyed my story, and that it has given you creative thought of my dreamtime culture and way of life.
Justin
Owner / Operator
Justin (far right) with a tour group at Elizabeth Quay
A small sample of Djurandi Dreaming tours around Perth...
Fine Aboriginal Artwork & Murals
by Justin Martin
I first started painting around 2009. I paint a traditional style of dot and lines paintings, my interpretation of Yamatji art using dots and Nyungar art using lines.
The person who showed me the meanings of West Australian Aboriginal art was my Grandmother Joan Margret Martin nee Lewis (deceased), a well-known Aboriginal Artist. She helped me to become and shaped me to be the artistic person I am today.
Growing up my Grandmother showed me what it takes to be an Aboriginal artist. From describing each of her newly finished paintings, to the current ones in detail, the meanings of each painting. How she got her colours by mixing paint, to the specific ways she stroked the paintbrush. She even showed me how to frame canvases using second hand frames. She always used Jo Sonja’s acrylic paints which is what I also use in my paintings, I think it’s has the perfect thickness and texture for dot paintings.
Even though I was exposed to so much artistic creativity I never actually painted until I went through what I call a spiritual awakening. After a near death experience I always thought about painting my dreams. Not long after that my Grandmother, my Nanna Joan passed away so I started painting for meditational purposes, trying to channel her spirit for answers and guidance. Even though I couldn’t speak to my Grandmother whilst I was painting I would seek the answers I needed. This is why painting to me is a form of meditation and spiritual healing.
Today when I paint I endure the companionship of my children. Always wanting them to paint with, or along side of me, passing down our dreamtime stories and works of creation.
I paint on flat canvas as well as stretched canvas always using quality paints. I paint for recreational purposes as well as painting custom pieces by request.
Recent art projects have included:
Rockingham Foreshore redevelopment Aboriginal Art Mural
Curtin University, Midland Campus Public Art Commissions
Water Corporation “Splash of Colour” Mural 2019
Department of Parks and Wildlife Kent Street Weir Walkway design
Water Corporation Vehicle Wraps 2019
Innaloo Shopping Centre Mural
Karrinyup Shopping Centre Public Art Piece
Custom pieces, public art and murals are available by request to suit your needs.
Instagram @djurandi_dreaming
