Public workshop

Saturday 24 February

10am – 1pm.

Ticketed

Mob Only Workshop

Sunday 25th

Starting at: 10-3pm.

10am start, however drop in at any time.

In this public weaving circle, you will hear from local weavers and their story and experience in regenerating cultural practice of weaving. Working with natural materials, you will learn techniques to weave a small piece.

Grounded in Country, First Nations weaving practices speak to the stories and cultural knowledges carried across time. In the same way that weaving practices supported Ancestral past and being, weaving practices in the present remain a vital means of cultural continuity and connection to storied places, to lineage and to belonging for First Nations peoples.

Aligning with the bonyi season, bonyi: weaving culture celebrates a time of interconnectivity with Country and community by uniting local weaving practices. Weavers, Kabi Kabi woman Bianca Bond, Quandamooka women Sonja Carmichael and Bundjalung Woman, Kylie Caldwell come together to lead a weaving and yarning circle. Working with natural materials, you will learn techniques and hear the stories of cultural resilience and regeneration through weaving practices.

Bianca Bond is a Kabi Kabi Woman, descending from the Da’la peoples, the traditional custodians of the sunshine coast area and its surrounding unceded outer regions. Bianca comes from a long lineage of strong weavers, dancers and Ancestors that have guided her practices and work within cultural continuity spaces, as well as necessary grassroot work of sharing and passing knowledge, and epistemological systems.

Sonja Carmichael is a Quandamooka woman from Mulgumpin/ Moreton Island and Minjerribah / North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. She is of the Ngugi people, one of three clans who are the traditional custodians of Quandamooka, also known as Yoolooburrabee – people of the sand and sea. Sonja works specifically in the medium of fibre basketry and woven sculptures, informed by her family’s cultural connections to the land and seas of Quandamooka.

Kylie Caldwell is a Bundjalung artist inspired by the knowledge and connection to Bundjalung Country. Over the past decade Kylie has been regenerating Bundjalung weaving, working with a local group of women in Casino and researching museum collections in Australia and overseas. Kylie works mainly with native plant species, including collecting local species such as buckie rush and lomandra.

The remains from the Bonyi Weaving Culture weekend will be left and intertwined with the current exhibition. Audiences are invited to become a part of this relational artwork, by participating in the weekend, weaving together, sharing in Bonyi feeds and stories told by local Weavers, that embody the resilience of our matriarchs. A safe space for Mob and community to unravel alongside the sharing of our sacred weaving knowledges. We invite you to share in this art piece as your presence continues its longevity, as our embodiment together, privileging the embodiment of our matriarchs, moves it back to our foundations - us.