Mandy Groves 1960
Ngen’giwumirri. Merrepen
Merrepen Arts
Nauiyu, Daly River,
Fitzmaurice region,
Northern Territory
Pandanus basket
Akryl på lerret
”Pandanus yerrgi leaves are used to make coiled baskets. The Pandanus palm is tall and a forked stick is used to reach and collect the fresh shot from the apex of the palm. The Pandanus leaves have thorns along the edges. Thus stripping of the leaves is initiated by removing the outer thorny layer of the leaves with the thumb nail or a needle. Then the tip is folded and the leaf is gently separated into two sections. Each section is stripped in smaller strings with the needle. The fibres are dried and dyed with the same barks and seeds.
When weaving, the fibres are collected in a small bundle, then one single fibre is coiled tightly around the bundle in dense circles covering it completely. This bundle of rolled fibres is then placed in a tight circle and woven together outwards, connected with another single fibre using a needle, and building the weaving as a roll of secured and extending circles.”
