The rough, dirt tracks of the remote Tanami Desert are littered with broken-down cars, some of which have been there for years.
To travellers they might look like nothing more than rusty rubbish, but artists in Balgo, 1,100 kilometres east of Broome in Western Australia's remote Kimberley region, saw a canvas.
Balgo community CEO Warren Bretag said the idea to create an artistic tribute to each of the AFL's 18 teams came after two young people took their own lives in recent months.
"AFL is very much a big part of the community life," Mr Bretag said.
"We've had some fairly big tragedies at Balgo community in the past six months."
No shortage of canvases
Mr Bretag said it was important to find something the community's children and teenagers could be a part of.
"Despite the fact that we've had a lot of tragedy, we need the young people to start taking on the culture," he said.
"Balgo is home to dot painting."
For Warlayirti Arts manager Nick Withers, this project was perfect for the community and local artists.
"The Tanami is full of broken-down cars," he said.
"There are more cars than there are people in the community.
"We just went down to the tip and took the bonnets off the cars."
Eight local artists put their hands up for the task and pushed to get the whole community involved.
Not the easiest task
Initially it took up to one week to paint each bonnet, but as time went on the artists became faster.
"We probably had between six and eight artists involved in the end, just to get the bonnets done," Mr Withers said.
"A bonnet is about two to three times the size of a standard canvas … so there's a lot of work involved."
Getting everyone together is also a challenge in remote communities.
"It's very difficult to get all the families involved in the art centre," Mr Bretag said.
"But the Njamme family took it on board and they drove the project of doing the paintings.
"There is quite limited employment opportunities in remote communities — we were looking for other options."
Gary Njamme said it was a fantastic opportunity for his family to showcase their artistic talent.
"It keeps them involved and keeps them busy, they really enjoyed that," Mr Njamme said.
"Despite the fact that there were two sorry camps (a mourning practice) going on, they managed to get all 18 bonnets out to display and had up to 150 people turn up."
Tourist season for Balgo
With the growing popularity of the Tanami Track for tourists, Balgo has become busier during peak season.
"The tourists just loved to see the project happening," Mr Bretag said.
"They really engaged in it and just thought it was a wonderful thing for the community to do.
"It will add economical flow into the community."
There are plans to paint more bonnets and display them as public artworks around the community.
The artists also hope to have all 18 bonnets displayed at the MCG during the 2020 AFL season.
