Tjanpi desert weavers

Situated at the NPY Women's Council, 3 Wilkinson Street, Alice Springs is the Tjanpi Desert Weavers Gallery. Tjanpi, means 'dry grass'.  Basket making is not a traditional craft of the Western Desert but builds on traditions of using fibre for medicinal, ceremonial and daily purposes. It evolved from a number of workshops run in remote western communities by the NPYWC in 1995. Today over 400 women across 28 communities are involved in making baskets and fibre sculptures. Tjanpi weavers is aboriginal owned and run. The baskets and sculptures are sold at the gallery and the marked price reflects the amount of money which goes back to the women. 

When collecting desert grasses, women visit sacred sites and traditional homelands, hunt and gather food for their families and teach their children about country. The grasses are bound with wool, string or raffia and sometimes decorated with emu feathers and the red seeds from the bats-wing coral tree. 

Indigenous grasses, raffia and emu feathers.

My purchases

Each item has the name of the artist on the tag. My basket was made by Pollyanne Smith and here is some information from her biography:

'Pollyanne was born well in the bush near Ernabella in South Australia around 1957. She grew up and has spent most of her life in nearby Kaitjiti( Fregon), where she now works as a teacher at the school, as well as look after her grandchildren. In school holidays Pollyanne also paints at Kaitjiti Arts.  She first started making baskets in 2010 after seeing lots of other ladies in the community doing it.'

Thank you Pollyanne and the NPYWC.