{"id":25059,"date":"2024-08-22T03:40:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T03:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/?post_type=futures-platform&p=25059"},"modified":"2025-09-26T15:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T07:02:18","slug":"exhibition-string-craft-bilum-dilly-bags","status":"publish","type":"futures-platform","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/futures-platform\/exhibition-string-craft-bilum-dilly-bags\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhibition: String Craft: Bilum + Dilly Bags"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

7th<\/sup> October \u2013 3 November<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 Exhibition Space, Building 418<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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String Craft<\/em> showcases the cultural and gendered significance of string crafts to Indigenous Australian and Papua New\u2028 Guinean communities, with reference to the Aboriginal Dilly Bag and the PNG Bilum.\u2028The exhibition is part of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 (IOTA24)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The exhibition is a platform to promote the value of Indigenous practice through its focus on the PNG Bilum  and\u2028the Aboriginal Dilly Bag.  Both are looped string bags made from hand twisted natural plant material, and sometimes\u2028animal fibres, whose manufacture dates back well before European contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The bilum and dilly bag are made almost exclusively by women, using similar weaving techniques and a wide range of natural\u2028raw materials for string making.\u00a0 The different looping techniques and the various designs and shapes crafted by PNG\u2028and Aboriginal women in the making of the string bags are expressions of considerable skill, innovation and creativity. Apart\u2028from their multiple utilitarian uses, the bilum and dilly bag have enormous cultural significance and are important markers of\u2028clan, linguistic and gender identity.\u00a0 In both PNG and Australia, the use and cultural value of string bags is changing\u2028as they become commodity items for sale to tourists and, in the case of PNG, as part of fashion and the art world.\u2028String craft<\/em> features dilly-bag inspired art installations by leading First Nations WA artists Lea Taylor and Katie West.\u00a0\u2028<\/p>\n

These works sit alongside a selection of dilly bags and textile artworks from Northern Territory artists from Bula\u2019Bula\u2028Arts Ramingining and B\u00e1bbarra Women\u2019s Centre, Maningrida.\u00a0 The bilums on display come from a grouped\u2028 private collection of bilums, representing bilums from the Sepik, Highlands and coastal areas of PNG.\u00a0\u00a0 They cover\u2028a range of Traditional and contemporary bilum styles, patterns and fibres, typically found across the highly culturally\u2028and linguistically diverse country of PNG.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unknown artist, Carrying Firewood, 2019. Nylon looped bilum. Photo: Gina Koczberski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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We acknowledge the support of IOTA24, Lottery West, WA Department of Local Government, Sport & Cultural<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Industries and Â鶹ֱ²¥, School of Design & the Built Environment<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn more about the exhibition, visit Pacific Livelihoods<\/a> and the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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7th October \u2013 3 November  Exhibition Space, Building 418 String Craft showcases the cultural and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":25075,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"class_list":["post-25059","futures-platform","type-futures-platform","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indigenous-futures"],"acf":false,"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/08\/Picture11-2-e1724634654653.jpg","author_meta":{"display_name":"263716k"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/futures-platform\/25059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/futures-platform"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/futures-platform"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/218"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/futures-platform\/25059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31959,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/futures-platform\/25059\/revisions\/31959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}