Description
To make bathi (baskets), Milingimbi Art and Culture miyalks (women) first harvest gunga (pandanus spiralis)—the strong, spiky leaves of the pandanus palm—from inland areas across Milingimbi and surrounding homelands.
The work begins with a long walk or drive, searching for just the right plants. Using hooked sticks, they pull down the soft inner leaves from the crown of the tree. The young leaves are stripped by hand, boiled in natural dye materials, and dried in the sun until they’re ready for weaving.
Bathi weaving typically follows a coil technique passed from generation to generation—taught through observation, conversation, and hours of shared practice.
The coloured stripes in this bathi have been created using immersion dyeing with natural materials harvested by hand from Country. Yellow comes from guninyi, the root of the Stinky Fruit tree (Morinda citrifolia). With the addition of ash from burnt coconut palm leaves, guninyi produces warm oranges and reds. Brown is made from guḻtji guḻtji, a native bulb, while mol black comes from a special bush leaf. Sections left undyed showcase the soft, creamy colour of the natural pandanus itself.
