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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/aug/07/tjanpi-desert-weavers-at-30-indigenous-women-in-remote-australia-take-the-art-world-by-storm>
"It was about seven years ago, in the remote Northern Territory community of
Imanpa, that Pitjantjatjara artist Julie Anderson first tried her hand at the
art of tjanpi (wild harvested grass) weaving.
“My aunty taught me how to do it at her place,” she says. “I didn’t like it at
first but she said, ‘Give it a go!’ Once I started and learned the steps, I
liked it, and now I do it all the time.”
Born circa 1956 at Victory Downs Station, 300km south of Mparntwe/Alice
Springs, Anderson once worked as a station hand, cleaner and groundskeeper. It
wasn’t until she was in her 60s, living in Mparntwe, that her aunt Margaret
Smith taught her how to weave her first tjanpi basket in 2018.
Anderson is now living full-time in a renal hostel in Mparntwe and is at her
happiest when creating: “I have a smile on my face when I’m weaving. I just
pick out nice colours and weave them to make nice big baskets.”
Anderson is one of more than 400 women in the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, an
Indigenous-run social enterprise that empowers women across 350,000 sq km of
central Australia to earn an income through fibre art. When it first started in
1995, the collective’s fibre art focused on more traditional practices, such as
making baskets. It has since expanded to 26 remote communities and evolved into
more contemporary art and sculptural works, exhibited in Australia and around
the world.
Each tjanpi piece holds stories of country, culture and daily life. The often
brightly coloured works are woven together with raffia, emu feathers, seeds,
gumnuts and twine.
“Each basket or sculpture is more than just an artwork,” the Darwin Aboriginal
art fair’s artistic director, Simon Carmichael, says of the Tjanpi Desert
Weavers. “It’s a way of keeping culture strong, passing on knowledge, and
staying connected to Country. Through weaving, people come together to connect,
share, create and continue something that’s been done for generations.”"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
