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Kun-madj – large dillybag vine

Kun-madj, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of large numbers of heavy foods such as fish caught in conical fish traps or large collections of yams.

They can also be made from Pandanus spiralis, a plant which grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. These dilly bags are a tightly woven collecting basket, very finely made. These dilly bags are often used to collect sugarbag, the native honey

As well as being of practical use, dilly bags are also of religious significance to Arnhem Land people. Dilly bags are said to be totemic objects and associated with particular sites in the landscape.

Categories: Maningrida Arts & Culture

Name: Melba Gunjarrwanga

Language: Kuninjku

Community: Maningrida

Biography:

Kuninjku artist, Melba Gunjarrwanga, was born in 1959 at Maningrida in the Northern Territory. Melba is a skilled printmaker, sculptor, weaver and bark painter represented by both the Bábbarra Women’s Centre and Maningrida Arts and Culture.

Over the last decade, Melba has taken part in multiple group exhibition across Australia and the world and her works have been presented by Maningrida Arts and Culture and within their collective shows. Her work is also held in the collections of Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Victoria and National Gallery of Australia and The Australian National University Collection. Melba has also featured as one of the emerging artists in a group exhibition, Báb-barra: Women’s Printing Culture at The Cross Art Projects (2017) 

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© the artist / art centre