Australian Aboriginal fibre sculpture

movement Traditional - ongoing Australia Arnhem Land

Aboriginal fibre sculpture grows from traditions of weaving and binding in Arnhem Land and the Central Desert, where sculptural fibre objects long served ceremonial and practical purposes - the Rembarrnga djondjon animal figures danced in ceremony, for instance. From the 1970s government-supported art centres, exhibitions such as Maningrida: The Language of Weaving (1989), and awards brought these works into the fine art market. Innovators like Lena Yarinkura and Bob Burruwal, whose Family Drama (1994) won the Wandjuk Marika 3D Award, transformed paperbark-and-string binding into ambitious sculpture, while Kuninjku artists such as Marina Murdilnga developed flat vine-framed forms meshed with pandanus fibre. Most practitioners are women, and the line between fibre craft and sculpture remains deliberately fluid.

The screenprinting room at Injalak Arts in Gunbalanya. The fibre work on the table is by Ganbaladj Nabegeyo and is being prepared for displa
The screenprinting room at Injalak Arts in Gunbalanya. The fibre work on the table is by Ganbaladj Nabegeyo and is being prepared for displaCC BY-SA 4.0 (credit: Zaddikskysong) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Bound and knotted fibre over vine or paperbark frames
  • Forms drawn from Dreaming figures: Yawkyawk water spirits, animals, ancestors
  • Natural dyes - especially from pandanus - used for soft, earthy color
  • Fish-trap and net weaving techniques translated into sculptural bodies
  • Fluid boundary between functional craft object and gallery sculpture

Key figures

  • Lena Yarinkura (b. 1961) — Kune artist whose bound paperbark figures founded contemporary fibre sculpture
  • Bob Burruwal (1952-2021) — Rembarrnga artist, Yarinkura's collaborator on Family Drama (1994)
  • Marina Murdilnga (fl. 2000s) — Kuninjku artist credited with the flat vine-and-pandanus forms, from 2003

Example works

  • Family Drama — Lena Yarinkura & Bob Burruwal (1994)
  • Yawkyawk — Marina Murdilnga (2003)

Sources

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