7th October – 3 November
Exhibition Space, Building 418
String Craft showcases the cultural and gendered significance of string crafts to Indigenous Australian and Papua New Guinean communities, with reference to the Aboriginal Dilly Bag and the PNG Bilum. The exhibition is part of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 (IOTA24)
The exhibition is a platform to promote the value of Indigenous practice through its focus on the PNG Bilum and the Aboriginal Dilly Bag. Both are looped string bags made from hand twisted natural plant material, and sometimes animal fibres, whose manufacture dates back well before European contact.
The bilum and dilly bag are made almost exclusively by women, using similar weaving techniques and a wide range of natural raw materials for string making. The different looping techniques and the various designs and shapes crafted by PNG and Aboriginal women in the making of the string bags are expressions of considerable skill, innovation and creativity. Apart from their multiple utilitarian uses, the bilum and dilly bag have enormous cultural significance and are important markers of clan, linguistic and gender identity. In both PNG and Australia, the use and cultural value of string bags is changing as they become commodity items for sale to tourists and, in the case of PNG, as part of fashion and the art world. String craft features dilly-bag inspired art installations by leading First Nations WA artists Lea Taylor and Katie West.
These works sit alongside a selection of dilly bags and textile artworks from Northern Territory artists from Bula’Bula Arts Ramingining and Bábbarra Women’s Centre, Maningrida. The bilums on display come from a grouped private collection of bilums, representing bilums from the Sepik, Highlands and coastal areas of PNG. They cover a range of Traditional and contemporary bilum styles, patterns and fibres, typically found across the highly culturally and linguistically diverse country of PNG.
We acknowledge the support of IOTA24, Lottery West, WA Department of Local Government, Sport & Cultural
Industries and Curtin University, School of Design & the Built Environment
Learn more about the exhibition, visit: https://pacificlivelihoods.com/ and indianoceancrafttriennial.com
