FIBRE FUN! by Everywhen Artspace |McCulloch & McCulloch

Fibre Fun!

Fibre Fun! Everywhen Artspace March 11-29, 2022 In partnership with Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Numbulwar Numburindi Arts

Front: Cynthia Burke, Papa (Dog), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 30 x 50 x 25 cm. Left: Rosalind Yiparti, Malu (Kangaroo), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 32 x 15 x 35 cm. Over page: Michelle Mattassia, Basket, tjanpi (grass), raffia, wipe (emu feathers), 8 x 40 cm.

Design ©Lisa Reidy Images ©The artists Published by Everywhen Artspace

Exhibiting Art Centres

Tjanpi Desert Weavers Maningrida Arts & Culture Numbulwar Numburindi Arts

Joyous figurative weavings and baskets by Tjanpi Desert Weavers of Central Australia, woven fish traps by Maureen Ali from Maningrida Arts and brilliantly coloured ghost net baskets from Numbulwar Numburindi Arts of Numbulwar, Arnhem Land in an exhibition that celebrates a central art & craft practice of Aboriginal women for International Women’s Day 2022. Fibre Fun! focuses on the fibre art of three Aboriginal-owned art centres of northern and central Australia. Fibre art by Indigenous artists has become a major movement within contemporary art. Drawing from a strong tradition of traditional weaving practice, today’s contemporary fibre artists work with their material in an extensive variety of innovative ways, and exhibit their work in major galleries and museums worldwide. Fibre Fun! was created out of a need for colour and fun as an antidote to the current stressors of the world, as a celebration of Blak joy, women’s art and craft practice, Aboriginal design, innovation and invention, and the beauty and culture these artists bring to our lives. The intricate and time consuming practice of weaving reminds us to slow down in a hectic, fast paced world, to value the beauty of nature, and the sense of community that weaving brings.

Emily McCulloch Childs March 2022

Tjanpi Desert Weavers

Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, working with women in the remote Central and Western desert regions (350,000 square kilometres across the tri-state (WA, SA, NT) border region of Central Australia) who earn an income from contemporary fibre art. Tjanpi (meaning grass in Pitjantjatjara language) represents over 400 Anangu/ Yarnangu women artists from 26 remote communities on the NPY lands. Tjanpi field officers regularly traverse this area to visit each community. While out collecting grass, women are also able to spend time on Country and maintain their culture through gathering food, hunting, performing inma (cultural song and dance), and teaching their children.

Tjanpi artists use native grasses to make spectacular contemporary fibre art, weaving beautiful baskets and sculptures and displaying endless creativity and inventiveness. Originally developing from the traditional practice of making manguri rings, working with fibre in this way has become a fundamental part of Central and Western desert culture. Tjanpi embodies the energies and rhythms of Country, culture and community. The shared stories, skills and experiences of this wide-reaching network of mothers, daughters, aunties, sisters and grandmothers form the bloodline of the desert weaving phenomenon and have fuelled Tjanpi’s rich history of collaborative practice. Tjanpi regularly exhibits work in national galleries and facilitates commissions for public institutions.

Angelina Malbunka, Basket, Raffia, 10 x 27 cm | MM5864 | $148.50

Antoinette Williamson, Papa (Dog), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 20 x 50 x 30 cm | MM5865 | $264 Born in 1992, Williamson is a Ngaanyatjarra emerging artist who recently joined the Young Women Weaving Project and very proudly produced her first artwork using a recycled powdered milk tin lid, which as few people have a fridge is the way milk keeps in community. Antoinette is a keen and talented emerging artist who shows a natural skill in sculptural work, evident in the artworks she has produced while attending skills development workshops in Mantamaru, WA, throughout 2021. Antoinette is a quiet and studious artist and has developed a sculptural style of her own using incredibly neat stitching. Antoinette has Tjanpi artists within her family including those from the McLean and Simms families.

Cynthia Burke, Tjilkamarta (Echidna), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 20 x 60 x 15 cm | MM5861 | $363 Born 1973, Ngaanyatjarra artist Burke was born in Alice Springs and grew up in the central desert of Western Australia. She has been a youth and media worker for many years and has hosted a weekly radio programme for Radio NGM. Cynthia is an internationally exhibited painter with Warakurna Artists and also very successful with Tjanpi Desert Weavers. Inspired from a young age by her late mother, experienced artist and former Maruku Arts director, Jean Burke, she is one of the foremost up and coming wood carvers. Cynthia also creates walka boards, animal carvings and bowls. In 2014 she became one of Maruku’s youngest directors. Cynthia carries on the traditions of the Tjukurpa, the Law and way of life governing her country using her own modern style and abstract sculptures to tell her stories.

Cynthia Burke, Papa (Dog), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 30 x 50 x 25 cm | MM5866 | $279

Danielle Cooley, Kamula (Camel), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 24 x 37 x 16 cm | MM5862 | $280.50

Elizabeth Smith, Basket, Basket, raffia, 30 x 50 cm | MM5863 | $280.50

Erica Shorty, Basket, raffia, 6 x 20 cm | MM5867 | $132 Born 1959, Erica Shorty is an artist belonging to the Ngaanyatjarra language and cultural group and lives in the remote community of Warakurna, Western Australia. Erica first became involved in making Tjanpi by participating alongside senior Tjanpi artists in the Trench Art Camp near Mutitjulu in the Northern Territory in early 2016. Erica is the aunt of artist and Tjanpi Remote Arts and Culture Assistant Cynthia Burke, who has assisted Erica to develop her weaving skills and knowledge. Soon after beginning with Tjanpi, Erica took part in various exhibitions with group and individual woven works. She soon established her own whimsical and quirky sculptural style which she continues to develop and refine. Alongside weaving, Erica also paints and makes punu. ‘It’s fun to work with the ladies. I like trying new things and making new animals. I mostly make tjulpu (bird) but once I made a giraffe and a llama!’ – Erica Shorty

Erica Shorty, Tjulpu (Bird), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 40 x 15 x 20 cm | MM5868 | $264

Erica Shorty, Tjulpu (Bird), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 41 x 25 x 15 cm | MM5869 | $280.50

Erica Shorty, Tjulpu (Bird), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 40 x 50 x 10 cm | MM5870 | $297

Erica Shorty, Tjulpu (Bird), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 30 x 20 x 15 cm | MM5871 | $231

Erica Shorty, Tjulpu (Bird), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 23 x 23 x 17 cm | MM5872 | $247.50

Erica Shorty, Tinka (Lizard), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 20 x 65 x 20 cm | MM5873 | $247.50

Julie Anderson, Basket, raffia, 5 x 24 cm | MM5848 | $181.50

Michelle Mattassia, Basket, tjanpi (grass), raffia, wipe (emu feathers), 8 x 40 cm | MM5849 | $231

Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, Basket, tjanpi (grass), raffia, 35 x 27 cm | MM5845 | $495 Born 1936, Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd is an artist belonging to the Pitjantjatjara language and cultural group and lives in the remote community of Mimili, South Australia. Ngilan has been creating beautiful baskets for many years and has formed a distinctive aesthetic of colourful stripes and a loose organic weaving style. She has pioneered the ‘woven vessel’ realm, developing her signature form which resembles the ancient Greek hydria. Ngilan dedicates herself to her woven art practice with immense passion and compulsion to make. A testimony to her enthusiasm for weaving was her request for a headtorch to allow her to continue making through the nights. A woman who (despite being confined to a wheelchair) has achieved so much through her hard work, artistic creativity and a unique passion for weaving. Margaret’s daughter Sheena Dodd is also a celebrated and skilful weaver.

Ngilan (Margaret) Dodd, Basket, raffia, 27 x 21 cm | MM5850 | $363

Ngoi Ngoi Donald, Basket, woven fibres, 7 x 30 cm | MM5846 | $148.50 Born 1947, Ngoi Ngoi is a Pitjantjatjara artist currently living at Angas Downs outstation, south of Alice Springs. Ngoi Ngoi weaves with Tjanpi Desert Weavers using Tjanpi (grass), brightly coloured raffia and yarn, and Wipya (emu feathers).

Pinuka (Margaret) Yai Yai, Kamula (Camel), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 26 x 14 x 37 cm | MM5847 | $280.50 Born 1964, Pitjantjatjara artist Pinuka lives in Mimili Community and makes beautiful strong and thoughtful baskets. Pinuka works with local grasses, coloured raffia and wool, weaving with great attention to detail and a refined technique. While she has only been weaving for a few years, Pinuka has already developed a distinct style based on her neat and considered weaving approach.

Rosalind Yiparti, Malu (Kangaroo), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 32 x 15 x 35 cm | MM5851 | $313.50 Pitjantjatjara artist Rosalind Yiparti was born in 1944 near Kaltukatjara (Docker River) and went to school at Utju (Areyonga). Rosalind has been making tjanpi baskets for some years, and made her first tjanpi sculptures in 2007, learning these new skills at a Tjanpi workshop. She has a wonderful sense of colour, which can be seen in her tjanpi works. A multi skilled artist, she also paints and makes punu.

Ruth Bates, Tjilkamarta (Echidna), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 12 x 27 x 54 cm | MM5855 | $264 Born 1961 Ruth Bates is an artist belonging to the Ngaanyatjarra language and cultural group and lives in Warakurna, WA. Ruth was born in the bush in between Patjarr and Wanarn in Western Australia. She grew up near Wiluna then moved to Warburton where she attended school. Ruth then went to high school in Perth before returning to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Ruth now lives in Warakurna Community in WA with her family and makes lovely large baskets and wonderful character-filled sculptures. Ruth enjoys making Tjanpi because it is a nice thing to do for relaxing. .

Sheryth Bronson, Basket, tjanpi (grass), raffia, 8 x 32 cm | MM5859 | $264 Born 1950, Sheryth is an artist from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) in the Northern Territory. She paints the Seven Sisters Tjukurpa (dreaming) and weaves colourful baskets with Tjanpi Desert Weavers.

Sheryth Bronson, Basket, raffia, 8 x 32 cm | MM5852 | $297

Sheryth Bronson, Basket, tjanpi (grass), raffia, 6 x 30 cm | MM5860 | $264 Born 1950, Sheryth is an artist from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) in the Northern Territory. She paints the Seven Sisters Tjukurpa (dreaming) and weaves colourful baskets with Tjaanpi Desert Weavers.

Tjunkaya Tapaya, Tinka (Lizard), tjanpi (grass), acrylic wool, raffia, 29 x 65 x 14 cm | MM5853 | $231 Born 1947, Pitjantjatjara artist Tjunkaya grew up at the Ernabella Mission where she went to school and later worked learning and demonstrating to her peers various domestic skills including sewing, cooking, and house cleaning, using European equipment and methods. In mission days, the building which is now the art centre was originally used as a food hall by the missionaries. In 1948 it became the Craft Room, where the first work was by women, spinning wool and rug making. Most of the senior artists painting on the APY Lands today have passed through this building across more than one of its incarnations. Tjunkaya began work in the craft room in the medium of batik, and became one of the outstanding artists with work in several public collections. Her work was featured on the cover of Judith Ryan’s ‘Across the Desert: Aboriginal Batik from Central Australia.’ Tjunkaya also works in ceramics, tjanpi, punu, print making, spinning and mukata making and her work in these mediums has been seen in numerous exhibitions in Australia and internationally since 1971, in public and private galleries. Over the last three years, Tjunkaya has chosen to concentrate exclusively on painting and tjanpi sculpture. This focus has seen her become one of the most in demand female artists on the APY Lands and increasingly recognised in these two mediums. In 2010 and 2011 she was collected by Artbank, and in 2011 and 2012 selected as a finalist in the Togart Contemporary Art Award. In 2012 her tjulpu (bird) tjanpi sculptures were selected for exhibition in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. 2011 marked the commencement of Tjunkaya’s 5th decade of working at Ernabella Arts. In 2020 Tjunkaya was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) in honour for her work in education and art.

Vanessa Calma, Basket, raffia, 6 x 24 cm | MM5854 | $181.50 Born 1950, Sheryth is an artist from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) in the Northern Territory. She paints the Seven Sisters Tjukurpa (dreaming) and weaves colourful baskets with Tjaanpi Desert Weavers.

Maningrida Arts

Arnhem Land based Maningrida Arts & Culture is a pre eminent site of contemporary cultural expression and art making, abundant with highly collectable art and emerging talent. Through their homelands resource organisation, Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, artists turned an art trade that began just over 50 years ago into a multimillion dollar arts and cultural enterprise. Maningrida Arts & Culture has supported hundreds of artists on their homelands, more than 20 artworkers, held 20 exhibitions annually, won prestigious awards, and enjoyed international fame and success. The art centre’s work continues that of important figures of Australian art history such as Yirawala, Wally Mardarrk, John Bulunbulun, Peter Marralwanga, England Banggala, Elizabeth Mipilangurr, Lena Djamarrayku, Mary Marabamba and Jack Wunuwun.

The Maningrida fibre sculpture movement has been a major force in contemporary art, with artists including Bob Burruwal, Lena Yarinkura, and Anniebelle Marrngamarrnga working in fibre installation work with great success. Fibre artists also reinterpret functional forms using natural fibres to create highly sought-after pieces across the fine art and interior design sectors.

Maureen Ali, An-gujechiya (Fish Trap), pandanus and bush cane with natural dyes, 157 x 26 x 25 cm | MM5797 | $2800 Born 1978, Maureen Ali is of the Burarra (Martay) language group, Yilan outstation, Gotjan subsection, Gamarl clan, and based at Maningrida community. She learned to weave under the guidance of her sister Bonny Burarn.garra, a highly skilled fibre artist who has exhibited in commercial galleries around Australia since the 1990s. She also learned from her watching her mother, leading fibre artist Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja, who won the Wandjuk Marika Award at the 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) in 2013 with a colourful pandanus fish trap. Maureen has been practicing since 2006. She is Burarra, one of the east-side language groups who specialise in the customary conical dilly bags, woven string bags and mats. She is particularly renowned for the use of mirlarl (malaisia scandens), a type of vine that grows in the coastal jungle. The use of this vine to manufacture fish traps, barriers and large strong dillybags is unique to this region.

Maureen Ali, An-gujechiya (Fish Trap), pandanus and bush cane with natural dyes, 155 x 26 x 25 cm | MM5798 | $2800

Maureen Ali, An-gujechiya (Fish Trap), pandanus and bush cane with natural dyes, 156 x 27 x 27 cm | MM5799 | $2800

Maureen Ali, An-gujechiya (Fish Trap), pandanus and bush cane with natural dyes, 123 x 24 x 23 cm | MM5801 | $2600

Numbulwar Numburindi Arts

Numbulwar is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. Numbulwar sits on the Rose River and belongs to the Nunggayinbala clan, one of the Wubuy or Nunggubuyu speaking clans from the region. Ceremonial activities are still very important within the region and occur regularly. Established in 2019, Numbulwar’s first art centre is 100 per cent owned and controlled by the community. Born from the community’s desire to practice and engage with traditional culture, Numbulwar Numburindi Arts is a space for artistic and cultural expression. Champions of fibre art, these artists marry naturally-dyed and locallyharvested pandanus with bright and bold ghost nets, abandoned fishing line retrieved from Numbulwar’s shoreline.

Numbulwar Numburindi Arts Wulbung (baskets) and Yir (dillybags) fit as naturally in traditional applications as they do in contemporary, urban environments. Abandoned fishing lines, known as ghost nets, that wash up on Numbulwar’s shores are re-created into bold, bright & brilliant fibre art. Ghost nets account for about 40% of all ocean plastic. Numbulwar baskets divert this plastic away from the oceans, keeping nets clear of vulnerable sea life.

Joy Wilfred, Yir (Dilly Bag), acrylic on reclaimed materials, 48 x 29 cm | MM5891 | $134 Born on her homelands of Walker River in 1960. Joy is a quiet-spoken artist who taught herself how to weave at the age of 20. She has two children and one grandson. She spends her time with family in Numbulwar Community and regularly teaches weaving at the local school. Recently Joy has taken tradition to the next level by replicating the dilly bag form using found, contemporary materials that speak to the environmental impact of commercial fishing operations on her homelands. Brightly coloured acrylics replace ochre stripes for clan identification and individual expression.

Joy Wilfred, Yir (Dilly Bag), acrylic on reclaimed materials, 26.5 x 20 cm | MM5892 | $93

Joy Wilfred, Yir (Dilly Bag), acrylic on reclaimed materials, 25 x 18 cm | MM5893 | $93

Mawungumain Nundhirribala, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 4.5 x 21 x 18 cm | MM5884 | $150 Born 1933, Nunggubuyu artist Mawungumain weaves her colourful coils from abandoned fishing lines, known as ghost nets, that wash up on Numbulwar’s shores.

Mawungumain Nundhirribala, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 6 x 22 x 24 cm | MM5885 | $180

Mawungumain Nundhirribala, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 6 x 26 x 24 cm | MM5886 | $235

Yulki Nunggumjbarr, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 10 x 39 x 37 cm | MM5887 | $550 Born 1937, Nunggubuyu, Anindilyakwa artist Yulki grew up in Wuyagiba before moving to the mission as a child. Yulki moved with her mother and father from Groote Eyelandt to Numbulawar in the fifties and helped establish the mission there, where she eventually became Australia’s first female Aboriginal priest. Yulki was taught how to weave at age of 18 by her aunty, who she fondly calls Old Gagadee. They were in the missionary together and would spend their spare time collecting pandanus and the natural colours which were within walking distance of the homestead. Through Old Gagadee’s tutorage, Yulki found a love for weaving which continues strongly today. She and her group of selfproclaimed White Hair Ladies regularly spend their Saturdays collecting materials to create their much beloved weave-art. Most recently Yulki has been using abandoned ghost nets and fishing line to weave her baskets with the other ladies at Numbulwar Numburindi Arts.

Mawungumain Nundhirribala, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 9 x 31 x 30.5 cm | MM5888 | $360

Yulki Nunggumjbarr, Wulbung (Basket), woven reclaimed ghost net, 8 x 27 x 27.5 cm | MM5889 | $230

Mawungumain Nundhirribala, Wulbung (Basket), 5.5 x 24 x 23 cm | MM5890 | $215

EVERYWHEN Artspace specialises in contemporary Australian Aboriginal art featuring paintings, barks, ochres, ceramics, sculptures and works on paper from 40 + Aboriginal art centres from around Australia. Directors Susan McCulloch OAM and Emily McCulloch Childs.

EVERYWHEN Artspace 39 Cook Street, Flinders VIC 3929 T: +61 3 5989 0496 E: info@everywhenart.com.au everywhenart.com.au

Fibre Fun! March 11-29, 2022