Fabric: printed linen (front) and unprinted cotton (back)
Color: the base cloth is grey (darker than it appears here) and the inks are white (bottom screen) and black (top screen). The back of the cushion is black.
Purchasing items made from hand-printed fabric supports Aboriginal artists (who get a royalty) and also creates a livelihood for the printers and sewers.
Please note that each cushion is unique and the placement of the design is different and wonderful on each item. The fabric was made into cushion covers by Mrs Pichreay our fair trade partner in Cambodia.
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Fabric Designers: Priscilla Badari, Lynne Nadjowh, Katra Nganjmirra and Sylvia Badari
The design:
Gundjabarrk is the Kunwinjku word for a woven Pandanus ‘dilly bag’ made by women. Foods gathered and carried in gundjabarrk included karrparda (long yams) and mankung (bush honey). Gundjabarrk were also used to carry meats such as kurdukadji (emu) and kunj (kangaroo). In addition the bags were used for leaching toxins from karrparda by securing them with sticks in shallow running water filled with yams to wash overnight. Inthemorningtheladieswould tipthemoutonto paperbark and eat them for breakfast.
Bininj (men) used gundjabarrk to carry tools such as karramalk (stone axes) and lawk (stone blades). Some wore them on their shoulders and some around their heads like the daluk. Gundjabarrk also have ceremonial and sacred uses and can be seen in ancient rock art paintings in the region.
This print design is based on real examples of dilly bags with all their variety of patterns and weaving techniques.
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Injalak Arts is a non-profit, fully Aboriginal owned arts corporation located Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land in remote Australia. The 300 members make beautiful arts and crafts. Their print workshop is busy with new screenprinted fabrics being created daily. They have an extraordinary 47 different fabric designs all created by the members and use lots of different base cloths (all natural fibres) and two teams of printers – men and women. Injalak Arts is registered as a charity in Australia.
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Visit the Injalak Arts Etsy shop to see an amazing range of fabrics and other high quality authentic hand-made products: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/InjalakArts
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