Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation

---

---

Fishing Spear

This spear is representative of Aboriginal skill and ability to create something functional out of found or reclaimed materials. From nothing, a functional spear can be made, and food can be placed on the table to feed family.

Consisting of a spear shaft and spines to spear a fish or cherabin (freshwater prawn), it is simple yet deadly effective in the right hands.

Spear shaft is found from fast growing plants surrounding billabongs and wet areas. It is barked off and then steamed in a fire and gently straightened. Spines are stainless steel and have been repurposed from an oven grill tray. They are sharpened to a deadly point and lashed to the tip of the spear using heavy weight fishing line. Gaffa tape sits over the top of the fishing line to further reinforce and hold everything in place.

Traditionally a bush string would be used, and protected with bees wax to harden and cure. In this instance what can be found on hand can still create a deadly hunting implement ready to provide food for the communal table.

---

---

Woven Jellyfish

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.

---

---

Woven Fish

This finely crafted hand woven fish represents species found both in blue water and local billabongs surrounding Beswick / Wugularr.

Djilpin’s super talented pandanus artists have been busy pushing their skills and techniques. This fun little fish is a prime example of this and a step away from traditional baskets, mats and dilly bags. Each fish is unique, hand woven and feature natural bush dye colouring.

Pandanus fibre art is labour intensive requiring a high level of care and fine needlework. Finished works are both functional and beautiful. Women collect pandanus by pulling from the top of a pandanus tree, stripping then dying the leaves using natural bush colour.

---

---

Spear

Wood carving has always been part of Aboriginal culture and Djilpin artists continue this tradition. Men carved wood for many purposes – tools for hunting or gathering food, axes and knives for building shelters, spears and clubs for protection of their lives and territory, objects for ceremony and to mark sacred sites.

Hunting implements include the boomerang, woomera and spear. The woomera is a lever which helps to increase the speed and distance the spear travels. Clapsticks are used as percussion instruments by the Songmen to accompany dancing along with the didgeridoo (mago).

As well as the more functional carvings, artists portray animals and birds in wood, and these carvings are often painted. Ceremonial carvings include spirit creatures including mukuy (devil devils) and mimi.

Some fine mimi figures have been cast in bronze.

---

---

Woven Basket

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.

---

---

Bluewater fish

Wood carving has always been part of Aboriginal culture and Djilpin artists continue this tradition. Men carved wood for many purposes – tools for hunting or gathering food, axes and knives for building shelters, spears and clubs for protection of their lives and territory, objects for ceremony and to mark sacred sites.

Hunting implements include the boomerang, woomera and spear. The woomera is a lever which helps to increase the speed and distance the spear travels. Clapsticks are used as percussion instruments by the Songmen to accompany dancing along with the didgeridoo (mago).

As well as the more functional carvings, artists portray animals and birds in wood, and these carvings are often painted. Ceremonial carvings include spirit creatures including mukuy (devil devils) and mimi.

Some fine mimi figures have been cast in bronze.

---

---

Mimi Spirit

“Mimi go through rock country. Hide in cracks. May be cheeky. Mimi look after and renew country.”

This stunning Mimi Spirit has been hand crafted from native beach hibiscus sourced in Darwin. Carved using a mix of sharp hand tools it has then been finished in modern acrylic paints.

Painting has been completed using a handmade Jarlk grass reed brush harvested from local billabongs and wet areas. Raark or fine line work has been completed using this brush and is in Yirritja style. This style consists of multiple lines before alternating colour.

---

---

Mimi Spirit

“Mimi go through rock country. Hide in cracks. May be cheeky. Mimi look after and renew country.”

This stunning Mimi Spirit has been hand crafted from native beach hibiscus sourced in Darwin. Carved using a mix of sharp hand tools it has then been finished in modern acrylic paints.

Painting has been completed using a handmade Jarlk grass reed brush harvested from local billabongs and wet areas. Raark or fine line work has been completed using this brush and is in Yirritja style. This style consists of multiple lines before alternating colour.

---

---

Mimi Spirit

“Mimi go through rock country. Hide in cracks. May be cheeky. Mimi look after and renew country.”

This stunning Mimi Spirit has been hand crafted from native beach hibiscus sourced in Darwin. Carved using a mix of sharp hand tools it has then been finished in modern acrylic paints.

Painting has been completed using a handmade Jarlk grass reed brush harvested from local billabongs and wet areas. Raark or fine line work has been completed using this brush and is in Yirritja style. This style consists of multiple lines before alternating colour.

---

---

Dance Belt

Dance belts are an important cultural component of ceremony. This belt has been made from a mix of bush string, double twisted to form the belt component, along with cotton string for the dangling components. White cockatoo feathers are used at the end of the dangle.

Bush String is incredibly labour intensive to construct. Artists collect Anputput (Kurrajong, pronounced “but but”), and then steam the logs in a fire. Bark is peeled off and the outer darker skin discarded. The softer inner fibre is mashed and separated into usable strips which has a lace-like visual look. From here the strips are rolled – usually on a leg or thigh – and spun into the string form. This alone is very time consuming as the artist needs to create the material from which she weaves. For thicker ropes, this process is repeated so each strand is actually constructed from two pre-constructed strands (four or even more strands in total).

At this point, with a functional material to start with, the artist begins to construct the belt; wrapping, weaving and tying. Raw rope can be colour dyed, or painted using ochre or modern acrylic paint. White cockatoo feathers are often used, along with biddih, or sugar bag bee wax.