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Woven Mat

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 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 Mukuys. Natural pandanus fibre (Mukarra), is used to make much of the fibre art produced by the artists of Djilpin Arts. Women collect the pandanus 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.

Name: Rita Cameron


Language: Myili


Community: Maningrida


Biography:

Rita was born in Pine Creek NT and grew up in Maningrida. She has lived in Beswick for twenty years. Her mother taught Rita to weave mats, baskets and dilly bags. Rita developed her own woven animal designs and creates everything from stingrays and mermaids, to wild pigs and bushfoods such as yams. She has exhibited for Djilpin Arts in Indonesia, Melbourne and Darwin.


© the artist / art centre