The women of Anindilyakwa Arts transform what the ocean spits out into sculptures that carry within them traditional storytelling and a strikingly modern vision.
What began ten years ago as simply cleaning up the beaches surrounding Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria has unexpectedly grown into a thriving art and fashion business. Today, the Anindilyakwa female artists’ distinctive creativity is recognised by art dealers, galleries and fashionistas around the globe.
The women from Anindilyakwa Arts, an Indigenous-owned business, use ghost nets (discarded fishing nets), bottles and caps, wire and other sea refuse, pandanus fibres, bush-dyed fabrics and, more recently, digitally-created designs printed onto sustainable fabrics to create sculptures, baskets, jewellery and fashion that incorporate Anindilyakwa stories and culture. Artists Maicie Lalara and Bernadette Watt with “Ghost Net Baskets”, 2019. Photography by Ben Ward.
The works have gained international acclaim with the Muséum d’histoire naturelle du Havre in France obtaining several ghost net sculptures, including two “Baby Monster Fish” by the artist Maicie Lalara. “The nets and other rubbish comes from overseas and washes up on our beaches,” says Lalara. “It floats for months, killing turtles, fish, crab and sharks — our food source. The Anindilyakwa Rangers collect it and give it to us art ladies to make something good from it.”