‘Collecting Colour’ is a wonderfully colourful and joyous celebration of family and the beautiful creative work done by the fibre artists in Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land in Australia’s Top End.
A young girl Rose living in the Top End tells of her time spent with her best friend Olive and Olive’s mother, Karrang, and other family out bush collecting materials to weave baskets, mats and bags from pandanus leaves and stringy bark. They collect berries, roots and leaves that create the colour in the baskets. It is hot tiring work relieved by breaks in the shade and fishing for barramundi in the river.
The book showcases the long, lengthy process that goes into the creation of the baskets when we read ‘Aunty, Karrang, Olive and Rose sit under the banyan trees for days’. It takes three days but they finish and Rose and Olive have made small mats that Olive’s father declares, ‘These are special’, and he displays them on the wall to show ‘what clever weavers my Olive and her friend Rose are’.
‘Collecting Colour’ features collage on Nepalese paper creating rich textual illustrations that create such a tactile sense that you feel you can touch the weaving. The colours used are similar to those used by the fibre artists adding further authenticity to the story.
Kylie Dunstan spent 12 months working at Injalak Arts and Crafts in Gunbalanya in Arnhem Land and gained a great insight into the weaving process used to create the beautiful baskets, mats and bags.
‘Collecting Colour’ has been shortlisted in several awards and was the 2009 Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
