Wupun/Warrgadi: Ngan’gi fibre and the art of Peppimenarti

Abstract

This dissertation examines the history and contemporary artistic practice of the Ngan’gi language groups of the Peppimenarti community (NT), within the greater context of Indigenous Top-End fibre art and acrylic painting. The dissertation endeavours to answer the question: “How does Ngan’gi fibre design and pattern construction reconceptualise cultural significance?” The research traces a ‘traffic’ of historical and contemporary Ngan’gi objects, and the succession of significances they have held for colonial and/or Indigenous makers, collectors and audiences. The dissertation also investigates cognate practices within Indigenous Australian textile and fibre art, illuminating the processes behind the construction of designs and the cultural, social and historical meanings they communicate. Finally, this study acts as a repositioning of the prevailing theories of significance within contemporary Indigenous art, arguing for a re-evaluation of pattern design within the woven and painted forms of the Ngan’gi.