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Woven Bracelet

Fibre Art is an ancient Aboriginal women’s craft that is still made today using the same techniques as their ancestors. Making fibre art is labour intensive and much care and fine needlework is required to ensure the finished object is both functional and beautiful. Fibre art from the Ghunmarn Culture Centre includes dilly bags, floor mats, bush fans, woven creatures found in the landscape, plants such as yams (bush potato), baskets, place mats, and spirit figures such as mermaids and Mukuy’s.Natural pandanus fibre (Mukarra), is used to make much of the fibre art produced by the artists of Djilpin Arts. Women collect the pandaus by pulling from the top of the pandanus tree, then stripping and drying the leaves before they are dyed with natural bush colour collected from the Beswick surrounds.

Categories: Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Bernadette Rrumburra Foster

Language: Warlpiri, Yolngu, Waramungu

Community: Wugularr (Beswick)

Biography:

Bernadette is a very talented and multifaceted artist. She paints, carves, weaves, makes jewellery, and all while teaching important cultural and bush knowledge to youngsters. 

Bernadette was born in Alice Springs and raised in Ali Curung. She had a mum from Central Australia, and a father from Arnhem Land. Because of this she grew up between Ali Curung, Tenant Creek & Ngukkur, before moving to Yirrkala and now currently residing in Wugularr/Beswick. 

This transition between Central and Northern Australia means she has a diverse mix of cultural knowledge and art skills, straddling both dot painting and raark or fine line painting styles.

Bernadette learned to paint from her mother and her sisters in the traditional Central Australian dot painting style. She helped the old ladies to put holes in beans for jewellery, and then transitioned to help her mother with gum nut jewellery holes. Once older, and with confidence under her belt, she started creating her own seed jewellery art, selling in Yirrkala

Carving was a skill learned from her Dhuway (male brother-in-law). Raark or fine line painting was learned from her ex-partner. This painting style was done using a handmade paint brush crafted from straight hair. This important brush making skill was learned from her sister in law.

Weaving has been self taught, along with critical skills from Julie Ashley a master weaver here at Djilpin Arts.

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© the artist / art centre