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Indigenous Textiles: Home

Textiles as cultural expression and communication

Powerhouse Museum: History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander textiles
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders make a variety of objects from animal and plant fibres. Their skills in basket weaving, knotting and utilising animal skins are evidenced in everyday tools such as baskets for collecting food, nets for fishing and skin cloaks for warmth. They also make ceremonial items such as headgear.

National Museum of Australi: Booka
Cloaks made from animal skins, such as kangaroo or possum, were worn by First Nations people in the coldest regions of the Australian continent. They are known by many names. In the Noongar language, kangaroo-skin cloaks are called booka.

Effects on contemporary design

Powerhouse Museum: Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander textiles
Case studies of various contemporary Aboriginal textiles designers and groups.

Grassroots Style: Re-Evaluating Australian Fashion and Aboriginal Art in the 1970s and 1980s
Facing growing globalization of the marketplace, a number of Australian fashion designers in the 1970s and 1980s abandoned a long-standing reliance on Europe for inspiration to examine their domestic and indigenous grassroots'. They believed that by using indigenous sources, they could find an alternative to current Western concepts of fashion.

Indigenous Fashion Projects
IFP is committed to supporting the development of First Nations fashion designers and their labels. This is achieved through our mentoring and business development programs and also the many promotional opportunities that we present.

External influences on Indigenous design

Tiki Ikat: Indonesian and Australian Aboriginal Textile Art
Discussion about the similarities between Indonesian and Australian textile art, and how they two cultures have influenced one another.

Dallong – Possum Skin Rugs
A Study of an Inter-Cultural Trade Item in Victoria

Powerhouse Museum: Symbols, Motifs, and Ownership
Exploitation of creative work can be a problem for any artist. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders the problem is often more complex as the symbols and motifs used in their designs also hold cultural significance for a particular group. Exploitation of the design impacts not only on the artist but also on the group.