Category: Art
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Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, the most populous of the Pacific islands, the world’s third largest island country and the most linguistically diverse with 839 known languages, boasts rich cultures, some of which include the making of tapa (barkcloth). Tapa is made by pounding and crushing plant material, drying the resulting layer, and then using it for…
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Mun-dirra
Mun-dirra is a monumental installation of woven panels that draw on the indigenous knowledge and technical proficiency of ten Aboriginal women artists. Mun-dirra means “Fish fence” in Burarra, a local language from the Northern Territory of Australia, and the artwork, commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is on display at the NGV Triennial.…
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How glass beads are changing Australian history
In 2013 a news report alerted archaeologists, researchers and scientists to an unusual find: glass beads of European origin excavated in the Arnhem Land region of Australia. These beads appear to predate European contact with Aboriginal peoples of the country and point to a trade that existed long before colonisation. These small items were, it…
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Collections/ Connections
The current exhibition at the Left Bank Art Gallery in Māwhera Greymouth has an interesting premise behind it: the connections between collectors and artists. In this show Friends of the Gallery were asked to choose a piece from their collection to share with someone else, who would respond to it with a piece of their…
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Pelicans on the wall
A new piece has just been added to the textile collection: a trio of pelicans. The wall hanging has been made from burlap backing with the pelicans, hand-stitched with twines of various hues and padded, fastened to the burlap. The photographs below show the detail of the padded figures, close-up of the feathers and the…
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A little about American Indian beadwork
Before the arrival of European settlers, the people of what is now the Americas used different materials – shells, bone and porcupine quills, amongst others – to make decorative (and portable) items. The coming of the Europeans brought glass beads to trade for furs, hides and food, and these quickly became a desirable item to…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
In this week’s list of music and sound that accompanies the blog there are references to International Women’s Day, wedding dresses, nursing, weaving and more. The playlist is on Spotify and paid subscribers can listen to all the tracks without interruption while free subscriptions will have advertising breaks. Anyone without a subscription will hear extracts…
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Weaving unearthed
Sculptor-weaver, Sue Hiley Harris, is currently showing work at the Ruthin Craft Centre in Wales. This week, Saturday 9th March, the artist will be giving an illustrated talk about the work in the exhibition and the ideas and concepts that led up to it. Weaving Unearthed shows the sculptor’s interest in experimental woven structures and,…
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International Women’s Day 2024
This coming week, on the 8th March, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated. At the first-ever events marking the day in 1911 more than a million people attended rallies campaigning for women’s rights and today the work continues around the world. This year the theme is “Inspire Inclusion”. As part of the celebrations, a piece…
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The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel
Beside the hospital in Ōtatahi Christchurch in New Zealand is a small chapel with a unique story. Opened in 1927 the building was the first hospital chapel in the country, and the only one to be dedicated to women who perished in war and in the 1918 influenza epidemic. It is also thought to be…