Australian Indigenous textiles and good business in the 21st century

In 2003 Fusion, a year long multifaceted event exploring cross-cultural fusion in the arts, was held at The Australian National University in Canberra. Included in this event was the exhibition Art on a String at the School of Art gallery from 5 June to 6 July. The symposium Translocality: Revaluing Indigenous Crafts accompanied the exhibition and included practical master classes, presentation of papers and theoretical and critical debate. The symposium included a wide range of international and local speakers including the prominent textiles specialist Jasleen Dhamija from India. In her summing up she presented the challenge to further the valuable discussion in "the Aboriginal heartland of Australia".

Selling Yarns: Australian Indigenous textiles and good business in the 21st century has been initiated to further the dialogue, highlight the issues involved with the production and marketing of Indigenous textiles and to explore opportunities for further business and industry support with greater financial benefits to artists. It will be held in Darwin at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and Territory Craft from 12 to 14 August, 2006.

Darwin cannot be labelled as "the Aboriginal Heartland of Australia" but on the 11 August Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art becomes the focus of the city and the nation when the 23rd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award opens. The exhibition aims to showcase the very best Indigenous art from around the country and attracts artists, dealers, curators, art-historians and art lovers from around the world. This makes Darwin the obvious choice of place and August the time to hold the Selling Yarns event.

The time is right for action in the Aboriginal fibre world. Over the past decade fibre exhibitions have made a mark in the art market that cannot be ignored. There are a few dedicated curators who have as part of their mission to place the work of women Aboriginal artists, in particular, to the forefront. For many fibre artists the work they produce comes from a long continuing practice, such as possum skin cloaks, shell necklaces and twined pandanus baskets. For others their past traditions influence their work in media that has not been part of the culture such as screen printing, batik, rug making or beanies. All of the artists are struggling for a position in the Aboriginal art world that is dominated by painting and sculpture.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award is a good indicator of what is happening in the art world and it has in the past few years had a few examples of fibre work mainly from remote communities but not entirely. The 22nd NATSIAA award was a resounding success from the point of view of the fibre enthusiasts. The top prize of $40,000 went to the Blackstone artists headed by Kantjupayi Benson for their Tjanpi Grass Toyota. We are all waiting to see what fibre works will be accepted and perhaps win, in this year's exhibition. Fibre has not made a miraculous appearance at the awards or into the market place but has arrived there through work that has been undertaken by a range of individuals. Many of the fibre entrants in this and past NATSIAA awards will be present at Selling Yarns.

Our event will comprise of an Indigenous textiles showcase, workshops, a makers forum and conference. Contemporary Indigenous textile and fibre work will be for sale and showcased through demonstrations held on the lawns around Territory Craft on Saturday 12 August. As many of the artists bringing work into Darwin at this time live on remote communities and sell through agents this will be a unique opportunity to meet the makers and buy directly from them.

Six workshops will be arranged by Territory Craft to introduce participants to materials and craft techniques. The tutors will be experienced Indigenous artists who have the knowledge of processes and are able and willing to share and pass on their skills.

The makers forum will be held on Saturday 12 August at Territory Craft in Darwin. The forum will bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous makers to discuss how they have continued and built on traditional practice and developed new forms with introduced materials and techniques. The areas of body adornment and jewellery, fashion, printed textiles, design, fibre weaving and basketry will be considered. Perspectives from the diverse regions of Australia will be presented, from remote community to urban dwellers. Non-Indigenous artists have worked with Indigenous artists on communities, in art centres, galleries, museums, in workshops and education and in creating production textiles. In this forum they will share insights from their experiences and contribute to dialogue and debate about business issues.

The conference will provide a forum for discussion between peers, to compare notes, while also encouraging business participation to look for partnerships for future production. Artists and art workers from across Australia will meet to discuss similarities and differences in their textile production and needs, and find common ground through shared experience. The keynote address giving a North American Indigenous perspective will be by W. Richard West Jnr.Director, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute, USA. Tim Acker, Aboriginal Economic Development, Department of Industry and Resources in Perth, Western Australia and Jon Altman, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University will present It's all Art, but still we have a fibre problem: Economic reality, contested value, and Indigenous Art and Bilawara Lee, Manager, Indigenous Arts Development Unit, ArtsNT, Northern Territory will discuss Building Strong Arts Business - review of the Northern Territory Indigenous Arts Strategy. The impressive full list of speakers in the program is available on the Selling Yarns website.

In order to share meeting and working with the artists, seeing their work and considering the state of Indigenous textiles and good business in the 21st century we invite you to come to Darwin and join us at the Selling Yarns Indigenous textiles showcase, workshops, makers forum and conference.

Dr. Louise Hamby and Valerie Kirk
May 2006

Dr. Louise Hamby is an ARC Fellow at the Centre for Cross Cultural Research at The Australian National University. Hamby received her PhD in Anthropology from the Australian National University in 2001 and holds a Master of Fine Arts in fabric design from the University of Georgia.

Valerie Kirk is Head of Textiles at The Australian National University, School of Art. Her undergraduate degree and post-graduate qualification is from Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland and MA(Hons) from the University of Wollongong. She is a tapestry weaver and has exhibited and worked to commission in Australia and internationally.

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