'Sister Basket' Agnes Nalunjdjuk

Based in Gunbalanya, West Arnhem Land, Injalak Arts has been a centre for art, craft and community since its opening in 1989. Injalak Arts has over 200 active members including artists, weavers, and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands. At the core of West Arnhem Land, two million hectares of sandstone escarpment stretches across the Northern Territory and is considered to be some of the most salient and valuable areas of rock art in the world. The immeasurable depths of history in Country continues to live through Injalak Art’s artists as they create works informed by the layered paintings of thousands of years ago. Agnes Nalunjdjuk’s ‘Sister Basket’, a woven bag made from natural material sourced from the Gunbalanya area. Pandanus handbags are a form shared with southern Aboriginal weavers, who call them ‘Sister Baskets’ due to their two identical sides.

Dimensions: 20cm D

Materials: Pandanus spiralis, natural dyes

Vessels: Transcending Tradition unveils a curated collection of exceptional artworks that are inherently imbued with deep cultural significance and stories. The featured Artists are custodians of their respective cultural heritages, each expressing a unique artistic language that bridges revered traditions and modern-day realities. The artworks transcend traditional ideals of Indigenous art, celebrating the spiritual, material, and ecological wisdom that has been passed down through generations of the artists’ lineage. Not merely object-based artworks, they are vessels of history, knowledge, and identity, offering an intimate glimpse into the profound relationship between the artists and their ancestral lands.

This work is only available for PICKUP from Australian Design Centre.