Last week, Milingimbi Art and Culture weavers Lily Roy, Jennifer Dikkar Roy, Rosalyn Markapuy, and Margaret Gamuti travelled from the island to Adelaide to proudly take part in Kurdinthi: National First Nations Weaving Symposium, co-presented by JamFactory Craft and Design Centre and Ku Arts. Held on Kaurna Country, Kurdinthi brought together weavers from across Australia to share skills, stories and connections in a national gathering for the first time.
The program opened with a welcome from Kaurna Elders at Yitpi Yartapuultiku – the Soul of Port Adelaide. The miyalks joined in weaving, yarning and exchange before attending an important workshop on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, which sparked valuable discussion about how cultural knowledge is held and shared in weaving practices.
Across three days, the Milingimbi delegation moved between talks, exhibitions and workshops, contributing their own voices while learning from others. On Saturday, Margaret Gamuti, Jennifer Dikkar Roy, Lily Roy and Rosalyn Markapuy joined the Laŋarra Bush Gallery panel, moderated by Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory curator Rebekah Raymond, to share the story of Milingimbi’s community-driven weaving camp and exhibition held on Howard Island earlier in 2024. Later, Lily, Jennifer and Margaret, together with weavers from Bula’bula Arts, co-taught a Yolŋu weaving workshop at Light Square Gallery. They introduced participants to pandanus preparation and guided them through the beginnings of pendants and baskets, explaining the deep cultural roots of fibre art from Arnhem Land.
The delegation also visited major exhibitions, including the National First Nations Weaving Salon at Light Square Gallery, which showcased the diversity of fibre practices across the continent, and Weaving Through Time by Ngarrindjeri master Aunty Ellen Trevorrow, alongside Weaving the Machine by Robert Wuldi.
Throughout Kurdinthi, Milingimbi’s weavers connected with peers from desert, river, island and urban communities. They saw how raffia, wire and other materials are transformed into contemporary forms, while proudly sharing their own practices of pandanus dyeing, jungle vine fish traps, and woven forms tied to Milingimbi Country.
The experience strengthened networks, sparked inspiration, and affirmed the importance of passing weaving knowledge to the next generation. For Lily, Jennifer, Rosalyn and Margaret, Kurdinthi was more than a symposium; it was a circle of weaving that honoured ancestral knowledge while celebrating innovation. The spirit of Kurdinthi now travels home with us, woven back into Milingimbi’s own circles of teaching and making.
The Kurdinthi National First Nations Weaving Symposium was generously supported by Creative Australia.