Threads: Lore and Lineage

22 May – 4 July 2025

Australian Design Centre presents Threads: Lore and Lineage in partnership with the National Indigenous Art Fair.

Cultural Warning - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised that this exhibition contains names, images, and references to people who have passed away. We acknowledge the deep cultural significance of this and extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Please engage with the exhibition in the way that feels right for you.

Curated by Miah Madden, the exhibition brings together creative voices from eight leading Indigenous Art Centres: APY Art Centre Collective - Yaritji Heffernan, Bábbarra Designs - Abigail Gurawiliwili Namundja, Josephine James, Belinda Kuriniya, Janet Marawarr, Kate Miwulku (deceased), Raylene Ngalamyorrk Bonson, Deborah Wurrkidj, Jennifer Wurrkidj (deceased), Bula’bula Arts - Daphne Banyawarra, Mary Dhapalany, Margaret Djarbalarbal Malibirr, Engawala Art Centre - Elizabeth Dickson, Dianne Dickson, Shirley Dickson, Thelma Dickson, Joy Turner, Injalak Arts - Priscilla Badari, Numbulwar Numburindi Arts - Nathaniah Murrungun, Janette Murrungun, Yulki Nunggumajbarr, Karishama Wilfred, Rose Wilfred, Virginia Wilfred, Maningrida Arts and Culture - Serena Bonson, Vera Cameron, Gloreen Campion, Deborah Yulidjirri, Pamela Namunjdja, Basma Nulla, Yolanda Rostron and Walkatjara Arts - Judy Yuka Trigger.

Tradition and contemporary practice are woven together like threads in a tapestry. Ghost net traps use ancestral weaving techniques, echoing the connection between land, sea, and community. Salvaged materials condemn the use of the plastic commercial fishing nets that litter the oceans. Weavings, lino printed fabrics and dillybags hang alongside carved sculptures and ceramics, each piece a trace of cultural lineage, Indigenous lore and identity.

These objects are acts of cultural continuity that embody ecological wisdom and spirit passed down through generations. From the pandanus weavings of Injalak Arts to the fibre art from Maningrida, the diversity of materials and technique reflect the richness of Australia’s Indigenous cultures.
The National Indigenous Art Fair will be held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal from 5-6 July 2025.

Image top: The Wilfred Mob, Weaving on the beach Photo: Courtesy of Numbulwar Numburindi Arts

Bula’bula Arts
Located in the heart of the Ramingining community of Central Arnhem Land, Bula’bula Arts has supported local artists for more than 30 years, currently representing over 150 artist members.

The name “Bula’bula”, means the voice/tongue of the Gandayala, the red kangaroo and Ramingining’s Creation Being, symbolising the journey and song cycle that is central to the region’s heritage.

Injalak Arts
Based in Gunbalanya, West Arnhem Land, Injalak Arts is a centre for art, craft and community that opened in 1989. Injalak Arts has over 200 active members including artists, weavers, and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands.

At the centre of West Arnhem Land, two million hectares of sandstone escarpment stretches across the Northern Territory and is considered to be some of the most significant and valuable areas of rock art in the world. The immeasurable depths of history in Country lives through Injalak Art’s artists as they create works informed by the layered paintings of thousands of years ago.

APY Art Centre Collective
The APY Art Centre Collective (APYACC) is a group of Indigenous-owned and governed art centres that work together on innovative artistic projects, the creation of jobs and generating employment pathways. The art centres are professional art-making studios where culture is celebrated, maintained, and carefully instructed to younger generations by Aboriginal Elders. They are home to some of the most renowned and collectable Indigenous artists in Australia, as well as a host of young and emerging artists. They are unique in their commitment to collaborate across the region on large scale artistic projects and events. The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far north-west of South Australia, is home to seven art centres, which along with studios in Adelaide and Umoona, facilitate and market the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists.

Babbarra Designs
Babbarra Designs is proudly owned by Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation and operates out of the Babbarra Women’s Centre in Maningrida, Arnhem Land. Babbarra Designs produces lino printed fabric and have over 100 silk screen print designs and a nine metre screen printing table. The artists depict the landscape, ancestral stories, spirit beings, bush foods and weaving crafts from their country. The variation in subject matter reflects the cultural identity of women from the different language groups in the Maningrida Region.

Engawala Arts
Based in the small Aboriginal community of Engawala in Anmatjeree country, located off the Plenty Highway, at the Engawala Art Centre many of the artists incorporate megafauna into their paintings and other artworks. A common image used is the dromornis stirtoni an ostrich like bird with a massive bill. Painted by local artists, a representation can be seen on the floor of the Art Centre.

Art Centre Manager Janine Tilmouth explains, "We paint those paintings of the megafauna because it's right in our backyard. It's part of our life here. It's just here and I think that's amazing because they are extinct. I think it's our job to tell everyone what we have here".

Numbulwar Numburindi Arts
Built on self-determination, Numbulwar Numburindi Arts (NNA) is a collective of artists whose mission is to KEEP CULTURE STRONG. Established in 2019, Numbulwar’s first art centre is 100 per cent owned and controlled by the community. Champions of fibre art, NNA artists marry naturally dyed and locally harvested pandanus with bright and bold ghost nets, abandoned fishing line retrieved from Numbulwar’s shoreline.

From Wulbung (baskets) and Yir (dillybags) to innovative design pieces like fictional crocodile traps, our artists use Nanja (ghost nets) to tell their stories and advocate for the health of our oceans. Numbulwar sits on the Rose River and belongs to the Nunggayinbala clan, one of the Wubuy or Nunggubuyu speaking clans from the region.

Walkatjara Arts
Situated at Uluru, in the heart of the Red Centre, Walkatjara Art is the Aboriginal-owned, not-for-profit Art Centre of Mutitjulu community.

Well known for its vibrant desert colours, Walkatjara artwork is rich with the timeless Creation stories of Uluru and traditional aspects of desert life, helping to keep Aṉangu culture and knowledge strong for future generations.

Maningrida Arts and Culture
Maningrida Arts and Culture is a pre-eminent site of contemporary cultural expression and artmaking, abundant with highly collectable art and emerging talent. Through their homelands resource organisation, Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, artists have turned Maningrida Arts and Culture into a multi-million dollar arts and cultural enterprise in just over fifty years. They support hundreds of artists on their homelands, more than 20 artworkers and 20 exhibitions annually.