Winning at the Fifth World Wicker and Weaving Festival, Poland, 2023
I am currently travelling Europe and the UK as a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship to investigate endangered basketry and avenues being taken to preserve knowledge. Last weekend I attended the 5th International Wicker and Weaving Festival in Poznan, Poland which was an incredible opportunity to meet international basket weavers.
I decided to participate in the live weaving competition which involved weaving and weaving, surrounded by beautiful folks and their diverse basketry practices from all over the world. We had 15 hours over two days to make our creations ready to be judged by the jury. I finished my large Jellyfish woven from ghost nets and fishing line just in time and submitted it to the jury for judging. It was an absolute surprise and honour to win first place in the man-made materials category. I’ve never won a trophy before, let alone a beautiful hand-woven one. I am very grateful to the Churchill Trust for the opportunity to travel and meet incredibly talented basket makers from Ukraine, Belgium and the Netherlands, to name a . It was overall an unbelievable experience.
In these photo’s I’m wearing a beautiful dress sewn by Irene O'Meara with stunning fabric titled ‘ Gundjabarrk Dilly Bag design’ designed collaboratively by Priscilla Badari, Lynne Nadjowh, Sylvia Badari and Katra Nganjmirra from Injalak Arts.
Gundjabarrk is a woven dilly bag which was used by daluk (women) to gather and carry bush foods in. They would gather Karrbarda (yams), mankinjdjek (cheeky yams) and other bushfoods such as bush honey. This design was based on real examples of woven dilly bags at Injalak Arts with all their variety of pattern and weaving techniques. The women have created a beautiful design that continues to express their connection with their cultural heritage through new mediums. You can buy Injalak fabrics here