Table Runner (Wool Chainstitch) - Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson
Table Runner (Wool Chainstitch) design by Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson
Pikilyi Jukurrpa Design, 32 x 124 cm
Pikilyi is a large and important waterhole and natural spring near Mount Doreen station. Pikilyi Jukurrpa (Vaughan Springs Dreaming) tells of the home of two rainbow serpents, ancestral heroes who lived together as man and wife. The woman ‘rainbow serpent’ was of the Napanangka skin group, the man was a Japangardi. This was a taboo relationship contrary to Warlpiri religious law. Women of the Napanangka and Napangardi subsection sat by the two serpents, picking lice off them. For this service, the two serpents allowed the women to take water from the springs at Pikilyi. This was because the serpents were the ‘kirda’, or ceremonial owners, for that country. The spirits of these two rainbow serpents are still at Pikilyi today. This Dreamings belongs to the women and men of the Japanangka/Napanangka and Japangardi/Napangardi skin groups.
This item is a product of the cross cultural projects run by Better World Arts. These projects are a cultural and economical exchange between Australian Aboriginal artists and traditional cottage industry artisans in Kashmir. These items are designed in Australia and handmade in Kashmir.
Chain-stitch is a traditional Kashmiri handicraft and important to the local economy. This work is produced in remote villages and provides an important supplementary income between harvests and other rural work. Wool is dyed in situ and groups of people gather in local homes surrounded by family and friends, to work. Finished rugs are washed in near by streams. The stitching is done by hand using an 'aari', a sharp hooked tool similar to a crochet hook.
