Weaving the past and present into a positive future
An ancient art weaves its way into the future in a fascinating exhibition now showing at Tweed Regional Gallery.
A new exhibition of woven vessels from Bundjalung Country explores the way weaving has created bonds in this northern NSW community, with people coming together as tightly as the tension in the baskets and objects themselves.
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition – presented by Arts Northern Rivers and now on at Tweed Regional Gallery – brings histories, indigenous and white, together to celebrate the longevity of the practice in this place.
For the first time, ancient and contemporary women’s weaving is seen where it was produced, an event described in the exhibition publication as an “historic reunion and powerful revival of ancient weaving traditions”.
At the exhibition’s heart are nine objects (dated c.1895–c.1912) held in the collection of the Australian Museum in Sydney. These objects by “ancestorial makers” offer a rare glimpse into the past. They were donated to the museum by Mary Bundock (1845–1924), whose two brothers (the Ogilvies) built Yulgilbar Homestead north of Kyogle between 1860 and 1866. Weaver, arts executive and Bundjalung woman Rhoda Roberts relates the story.
“When Mary Bundock was visiting Yulgilbar, every morning she would go out and sit with the (local Aboriginal) ladies,” Roberts says. “There wouldn’t have been many women around when Mary was out there. So, they all got together and did what women did – nurtured, weaved, cooked. Eventually she learned the local language, the stories. The ladies were making baskets or whatever the season dictated. In the late 1800s, Mary took a series of what were known as Dullooms and other water vessels and woven bags away with her. These objects toured Europe, and Mary’s notes and writings from that period also provide a wealth of information about our old people.”
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The exhibition emerged from a four-year project by Arts Northern Rivers that included workshops and the publication of the book, Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali – We Weave Together. Local weavers shared knowledge and created space for culture and stories. The exhibition comprises work by 11 contemporary weavers (including one collective) and nine historic objects, with an accompanying publication. The catalogue documents contemporary practice and includes the history of weaving, local plant and environmental knowledge and techniques.
“In this contemporary weaving project every one of the weavers involved in producing new work have connections to ladies whose work from the Australian Museum is included in the exhibition,” Roberts says. “This continuing connection gives value. Mary got those baskets into museums which has given value to our cultural heritage on the east coast.”
Ganngaan Leern Duu – Remembering the Past, 2024, coastal pandanus, lomandra, bees wax. Photo: Kate Holmes
In the work Slumber Party, collective Casino Wake Up Time (Bundjalung and Kamilaroi) weave onto cast iron frames, including old beds. These installations hold together with beautifully crafted woven elements in and around the bare metal. They evoke the places (and dormitories) that Aboriginal children were placed in after removal from their families and, in their fibres, a reminder of the importance of freshwater systems. (This work was also part of rīvus, the 2022 23rd Biennale of Sydney, which explored the agency accorded to rivers, wetlands and other waterways.)
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Roberts notes the circular qualities incorporated in weaving, the rhythm of time and the return to the old ways in her Continuous Persistence (2024) made from lomandra grass and pandanus. In its spiralling rhythms she highlights connections to both Country and community: “every leaf and every star is an Ancestor”. Lauren Jarrett’s colourful basket Sister to Sister, incorporates coloured wool with raffia, pandanus, cabbage tree palm and bloodwood ink. It celebrates friendship, inspired by Mary Bundock’s collection of work, reinvigorated with contemporary materials and innovation of tradition.
Kyra Togo’s work Ganngaan Leern Duu – Remembering the Past (2024) connects to her memories of weaving with her grandmother, and involved Kyra’s own daughters in the picking of lomandra grasses. For Togo, memories are integral to the process and action of the weaving practice, “offering a deeper sense of belonging and appreciation”.
Roberts believes that the exhibition has come at the right time and is proud of what the tour (Grafton, Tweed Regional Gallery and Lismore Regional Gallery) is achieving.
“I’m aware that now (the broader community) really want to know this information,” she says. “We have brought so many non-indigenous people to join our weaving circle. It’s more than just sitting and weaving – it’s a lovely gathering of women. The gentle humility of our weavers and their stories might switch the dial a bit to more understanding.
“Starting at home, like the vines we use, means knowledge will slowly feed across. Plants from where we live can make art and so many women are now involved. We have more in common than we have differences; art gives First Nations people visibility.
“When people taste something, they can be influenced by it. A lot of our towns depend on cottage industries, on tourism. This exhibition provides a glimpse into what could be possible for future economies.”
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition continues until April 27 at Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, Murwillumbah. The exhibition will show at Lismore Regional Gallery, September 12 to November 9.