Tjanpi Desert Weavers: Fibre Art from the NPY Lands
L Iluwanti Ken with wagurnu grass she has collected near Ernabella. Photo by Rhett Hammerton, Copyright Tjanpi Desert Weavers, NPY Women's Council.
R Molly Yates. Photo by Rhett Hammerton, Copyright Tjanpi Desert Weavers, NPY Women's Council.
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council, representing over 400 women artists from 26 remote communities across the NPY Lands of Central and Western Australia. The word tjanpi means wild harvested grass in Pitjantjatjara.
Tjanpi began in 1995 as a series of basket-making workshops on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. Women in remote communities had identified a need for meaningful and culturally appropriate employment that would allow them to remain on Country and support their families. Grass weaving was new to the region, but women quickly applied their existing skills in spinning human hair, animal fur, string, and wool to coiled basketry, and knowledge spread rapidly across communities.
The NPY Lands cover approximately 350,000 square kilometres across the tri-state border region of Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. Tjanpi field officers regularly travel throughout this area, visiting each community to purchase artworks, supply materials, and run skills development workshops. Grass-collecting trips are also an opportunity for women to spend time on Country, gather food, hunt, visit significant sites, perform inma (cultural song and dance), and teach children about Country.
Artists work primarily with native desert grasses alongside acrylic wool, string, and raffia to create baskets, vessels, sculptures, and jewellery. The practice has become deeply embedded in Central and Western Desert culture since those first workshops in 1995. Works range from tightly woven single-colour baskets to large-scale collaborative sculptures and installations.
In 2005, women from Papulankutja (Blackstone) in Western Australia won the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for Tjanpi Toyota, a life-sized woven vehicle that remains one of the most celebrated works in Australian fibre art. In 2015, a collaborative work with artist Fiona Hall, Kuka Irititja (Animals from Another Time), was exhibited at the Venice Biennale. In 2017, Tjanpi works were a major feature of an exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. In 2020, Tjanpi artists were commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia to create a large-scale installation based on the Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) songline, made in a bush camp near Warakurna in Western Australia.
Tjanpi works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Western Australian Museum, and Foundation Opale in Switzerland.
Artist Kanytjupayi Benson from Papulankutja describes the significance of the practice: "It's good for young women too. We can show them the sacred sites, special grass, and the best time to go and get them. We can tell stories while we're collecting the grass and making the baskets."
L Installation view, Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2020, featuring Tjanpi Desert Weavers.
R Finished artwork in Warakurna, Western Australia. Photo by Thisbe Purich, Copyright Tjanpi Desert Weavers, NPY Women's Council.
Tjanpi Toyota, 2005. Photo by Thisbe Purich, copyright Tjanpi Desert Weavers, NPY Women's Council.
Tjanpi Desert Weavers at a glance
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Established
Founded 1995 by the NPY Women's Council on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. -
Location
Artists across 26 remote communities on the NPY Lands of WA, SA, and NT. Public gallery at 3 Wilkinson Street, Alice Springs, open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm. -
Language and Culture
Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, and Yankunytjatjara speaking communities across 350,000 square kilometres of Central and Western Australia. -
Art Style
Coiled fibre art using native desert grasses, raffia, wool, and string. Works include baskets, vessels, sculpture, and jewellery. -
Scale
Over 400 artists from 26 communities. One of the largest fibre art enterprises in Australia. -
Notable Works
Tjanpi Toyota (2005), winner of the Telstra NATSIAA. Venice Biennale (2015). National Gallery of Australia commission, Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters), 2020. -
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Western Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Western Australian Museum, and Foundation Opale, Switzerland.
View Tjanpi Desert Weavers artworks
