Inarlenge (echidna)

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-SWA163

2013 Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award finalist Susan Wanji Wanji grew up in Maningrida and as a young girl learnt to make bark paintings and intricately woven mats and baskets. Susan has a unique style that has influence from both Tiwi and Arnhem Land cultures. In 1992 Susan Wanji Wanji travelled to Paris representing Munupi Arts.

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-DYM931

This is a teaching painting, describing a dry season in Damien’s homeland, Mount Liebig, in the Northern Territory. It illustrates aspects of landscape and culture that was told to Damien by his great-grandparents. Women sit with children collecting bush potatoes (the red shapes at the top of the painting) and are preparing for inma (ceremony). One man, wati, sits down with his waru (spear). Controlled burnings are taking place as the spinifex is dry, and this means good fruits can grow. The small star-like symbols represent women’s body paint that the women paint on each other for inma. A dry creekbed runs through the painting (in red and white), and there are cracks in the claypans, dried rockholes (tjukula), and sandhills (tali).

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-JPA145

During Ceremony on the Tiwi Islands a series of "Yoi", dances are performed, some are totemic (matrilineal) and others act out newly composed songs. Participants are painted with turtiyanginari (natural ochres) transforming the dancers and protecting them against mapurtiti (spirits). These designs are collectively called Jilamara.

Better World Arts has been operating for over two decades. Our role models were Oxfam, Fred Hollows (the Fred Hollows Foundation) and Anita Roddick (The Body Shop).

Initially, we worked with traditional handicrafts. In 1996 we invited Aboriginal artists to join our projects and soon after we decided to focus on the Aboriginal art side of the projects and left the normal handicrafts to others like Oxfam.

We work with traditional artisans from remote regions in Kashmir, Peru, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal (Tibetan refugees). More recently we have started working with China, making bone china and silk ties.

We work with Australian Aboriginal artists from remote communities across Australia, from Arnhem Land to Central and the Western Desert regions, from rural locations and from cities.

We are members of The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand and we are endorsed by Fair Traders of Australia. So, what is the difference?

To become a member of The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand you simply pay a membership fee. In order to receive an endorsement as a Fair Trader of Australia, the business operations and practises are assessed and audited against the 10 principles of Fair Trade.

 The 10 internationally recognised standards of Fair Trade are:

• Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
• Greater transparency and accountability
• Fairer trading practices
• Fairer prices for producers
• No child exploitation or forced labour
• Non-discrimination, gender equity and freedom of association
• Better working conditions
• Capacity building
• Promotion of Fair Trade
• Environmental sustainability

In our most recent audit, we were assessed on our relationships with Aboriginal artists and other Aboriginal suppliers. All of our overseas suppliers are either certified as fair traders in their own right, have SEDEX certification or have passed a private audit. As well as external certifications many of the workers involved in our manufacture are unionised and use their unions effectively to leverage their rights and conditions as workers.

Valuing partnerships and ethical trading is at the heart of Better World Arts Cross-Cultural Projects. Fair Trade is about constructive economic empowerment, equal relationships and justice, not charity dependence. Sustainable trade delivers reliable livelihoods to all participants. We create opportunities and give indigenous artists and artisans access to international markets and the mainstream economy, directly contributing to community empowerment and the preservation of culture.

Cotton Tea Towel – Digital Print – 62.5cm x 42.5cm-SWA150

2013 Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award finalist Susan Wanji Wanji grew up in Maningrida and as a young girl learnt to make bark paintings and intricately woven mats and baskets. Susan has since a unique style that has influence from both Tiwi and Arnhem Land cultures. In 1992 Susan Wanji Wanji travelled to Paris representing Munupi Arts

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-JMO420

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-MNM619

Two dog ancestors, a Jampijinpa and a Napangardi, travelled from the west to the east. They dug holes in the ground and created warnirri (rockholes) and ngapa (waterholes) as they went. The two dogs separated. Eventually Jampijinpa became lonely and howled for Napangardi in the south. She came running to him, and they married each other at Ngarnka.

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-AAD998

This is the story of the seven sisters. The sisters fled from Wati Nyiru creating the country and landscape around Andrea’s home, Mala. They created the rockhole’s, sandhills and rocky outcrops as they tried to escape. The women flew up into the sky. Now, Wati Nyiru can be seen as Orion in the sky and the sisters are the Pleiades constellation.

Cotton Tea Towel - Digital Print - 62.5cm x 42.5cm-KZI324

The ancient Australian landscape with its eroded forms and organic shapes provides motivation for Keturah's art. In this work Keturah depicts the natural rock formations (puli) found in and around Haasts Bluff.

Cotton Tea Towel – Digital Print – 62.5cm x 42.5cm-BEM186

Yirrikipayi is a Tiwi term for ‘salt-water crocodile, the largest living reptile and fiercest predator in the world. The ‘Yirrikipayi’ holds great cultural significance for the Tiwi people. This design marks the ceremonial and ancestral origins of the ‘Yirrikipayi’, which had been passed down from birth

Artewe (Bush Turkey)

This beautiful set is part of Ashdene’s 2023 Ikuntji Collection.

Featuring ‘Puli Puli’ by Keturah Zimran.

PRODUCT FEATURES
It is 100% cotton, constructed with an insulating layer of fibre that protects your hands, and it has a nifty loop for hanging up in your kitchen.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Size: 37x20cm
Fabrication: Cotton/Poly

PRODUCT CARE
Machine Washable