| Beautiful,
colorful, intricately woven baskets are produced by hand throughout
Aboriginal Australia. Some the most striking are created in the
Northern Territory area of Arnhem Land, served by art and cultural
centers at Maningrida and Nhulumbuy. This area of approximately
10,000 square kilometers includes many clans and language groups
whose mixed traditions have contributed to a rich variety of artistic
creations.
The
baskets are predominantly coiled, string or "dilly"
bags. They are woven from various natural fibers such as those
made from the leaves of the pandanus plant, the bark of trees
like Kurrajong, Brachychiton diversifolius, Brachychiton paradoxum
and Ficus virens. These fibers are dyed in vivid oranges, yellows,
reds, blacks and purples by boiling in ground up roots of plants
like Pogonolobus reticulatus and wood ash from Eucalyptus alba.
Maningrida
is a small community that sits on the remote northern coast
of Australia's Arnhem Land at the estuary of the Liverpool River.
During much of the year the community can be reached only by
light aircraft. Nhulumbuy, also known as Gove, is a area where
bauxite has been mined. It also situated on the northern coast
and is reachable primarily by air, especially during the wet
season.
Baskets
traditionally are used for gathering foods like roots, tubers,
berries, honey and fish. The baskets offered by Aboriginals:
Art of the First Person have been woven for commercial
purposes and sale to collectors and museums by the finest aboriginal
artists, which come from Maningrida and other aboriginal communities.
For
larger pictures, descriptions and prices, click on the appropriate
thumbnail.
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