Ngalkordow (Brolga) Throughout the 1990s, artists Lena Yarinkura and her mother Lena Djammarrayku (now deceased) diverged from the more conventional fibre work of their contemporaries, extending traditional weaving techniques and materials to make new ambitious and innovative sculptural forms. Yarinkura applied the dilly bag, fish trap and coil basket weaving Read more…
Ngalkordow (Brolga) Throughout the 1990s, artists Lena Yarinkura and her mother Lena Djammarrayku (now deceased) diverged from the more conventional fibre work of their contemporaries, extending traditional weaving techniques and materials to make new ambitious and innovative sculptural forms. Yarinkura applied the dilly bag, fish trap and coil basket weaving Read more…
Rabbit Proof Fence with tuwa and waterholes “I painted the Rabbit Proof Fence and the tracks of the emus. They can’t get through because the gate is closed. If they can’t get through they go back to the sand hills. We still see that Rabbit Proof Fence out there, it Read more…
Theradhayaw Sabi (Traditional Adoption Lore) The Torres Strait Islands, a unique cultural enclave between the northern tip of Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea, boast a rich heritage deeply intertwined with distinctive traditional adoption practices. The kinship system in the Torres Strait is not just a complex and intricate web Read more…
Marebu Deborah Wurrkidj is a Kuninjku artist from the Kurulk clan whose country lies around the outstation of Mumeka in central Arnhem Land. She is an accomplished artist working across mediums including painting, sculpture, weaving and textile design. For this design, Deborah Wurrkidj has depicted Marebu (woven pandanus mats). Works Read more…
Puntawarri “All around is sandhills and lakes on every side. You can see the grass, but the lakes are all dry. In the middle is Puntawarri waterhole. That’s the jila (snake) place, two jila. They nyupa (spouses), they darlings, man and woman. They sleeping near to Puntawarri. It’s a hole Read more…
Brolga Dreaming “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you Read more…
Minyipuru (Jakulyukulyu, Seven Sisters) The term Jukurrpa is often translated in English as the ‘dreaming’, or ‘dreamtime’. It refers generally to the period in which the world was created by ancestral beings, who assumed both human and nonhuman forms. These beings shaped what had been a formless landscape; creating waters, Read more…
Spinifex “When I went back to County, I thought how beautiful the spinifex was. How the sun glazed against the spinifex. The County that I speak of is Jilukurru, my grandfather’s country.” – Kathleen Maree Sorenson Martu Country is dominated by striking permanent tali (sandhills) covered with spinifex, gums, and Read more…