Floating life: contemporary Aboriginal fibre art

Contents Publisher Queensland Art Gallery Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane PO Box 3686, South Brisbane Queensland 4101 Australia www.qag.qld.gov.au Published for ‘Floating Life: Contemporary Aboriginal Fibre Art’, organised by the Queensland Art Gallery and held at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 1 August – 18 October 2009 Curator: Diane Moon, Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art © Queensland Art Gallery, 2009 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , no part may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. No illustration in this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright owners. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the publisher. Copyright for texts in this publication is held by the Queensland Art Gallery and the authors. Copyright in art works is held either by their creators or their representatives, unless otherwise stated. Copyright of photographic images is held by the Queensland Art Gallery or individual photographers and institutions as credited. Every attempt has been made to locate holders of copyright and reproduction rights of all images reproduced in this publication. The publisher would be grateful to hear from any reader with further information. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Moon, Diane. Title: Floating life : contemporary Aboriginal fibre art / Diane Moon. ISBN: 9781921503030 (pbk.) Notes: Bibliography. Subjects: Fiberwork-- Queensland--Exhibitions. Textile crafts--Queensland-- Exhibitions. Art, Aboriginal Australian-- Queensland--Exhibitions. Other Authors/Contributors: Queensland Art Gallery. Dewey Number: 746.074943 Notes on the publication Text for this publication has been supplied by the authors as attributed. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. Dimensions of works are given in centimetres (cm), height preceding width followed by depth. All photography is credited as known. Typeset in Gotham and Century. Scans and colour adjustment by ColourChiefs. Printed on Raleigh Paper Nordset and Novatech Satin by Platypus Graphics, Brisbane. Warning It is customary in many Indigenous communities not to mentionthe name or reproduce photographs of the deceased. All such mentions and photographs in this publication are with permission. However, care and discretion should be exercised in using this book within Indigenous communities. Cover Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi Banumbirr (Morning star string) (detail) 2000 Bark fibre string with feathers 10 x 14 x 610cm Acc. 2008.271 Purchased 2008 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, am , and Cathryn Mittelheuser, am , through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Title page Dorothy Short Puunya (Basket) 2002 Twined watul grass ( Lomandra longifolia ), with natural dyes 29 x 38cm (diam.) Acc. 2003.051 Commissioned 2002 with funds from the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant Previous page David Wurrbula Gurruwiwi Armband tassels (detail) 1993 Bark fibre string, red-collared lorikeet and cockatoo feathers, wool, with native beeswax One of six pieces: dimensions variable Acc. 2008.266.001–006 Purchased 2008 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, am , and Cathryn Mittelheuser, am , through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Page 7 Artist unidentified Ceremonial armbands (dhuwa) (detail) 1996 Bark fibre string with red-winged parrot and red-collared lorikeet feathers One of two pieces: dimensions variable Acc. 2008.287.001–002 Purchased 2008 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, am , and Cathryn Mittelheuser, am , through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 8 Director’s foreword Tony Ellwood 10 Visible songs: Captured flight Diane Moon 28 Touching the past: Hunting the future Diana Wood Conroy 42 Reveries of light and water Anna Haebich 54 Djang’kawu sisters: Bringers of light, life, culture and law Merrkiyawuy Dhalalu Ganambarr and Barbara Nuliny Ganambarr 60 Gulumbu Yunupingu: Ancient light Elina Spilia 64 Banumbirr: The brightest star Diane Moon 68 Baskets in Queensland: Memory, time and invention Julie Ewington 74 An unbroken strand: Palawa shell necklaces Francis E Parker 82 String: Sacred and secular Ruth Mcdougall 88 Nets, traps and a sail: The art of Aboriginal fishing Ian Were 94 Judy Baypungala: Weaver Diane Moon 100 Lorraine Connelly-Northey: Revisioning the past Bree Richards 106 Timothy Cook and Pedro Wonaeamirri: Opposites attract Bruce Mclean 110 Fiona Foley: Black velvet Angela Goddard 114 Jonathan Jones: Luminary Diane Moon 118 Mabel Juli, Lily Karadada and Rosie Karadada: Two brolgas and the coolamon Diane Moon 122 Yvonne Koolmatrie: Hot-air balloon John Kean 126 Shirley MacNamara: ‘The Spinifex amazes me’ Lynne Seear 130 Regina Wilson: Painted stitches Diane Moon 134 Lena Yarinkura: ‘. . . weaving, it can make you happy’ Diane Moon 140 Catalogue of works 154 Selected bibliography 156 Acknowledgments 157 Contributing authors Sponsored by