Our weaving practices have been sleeping since colonisation': Quandamooka artist Elisa Jane Carmichael

2018 Telstra NATSIAA finalist Elisa Jane Carmichael speaks to NITV about her entry piece and how she's using her art practice to maintain and celebrate her culture.

Elisa shares her creative process behind her NATISAA entry. Source: NITV

Elisa Jane Carmichael is a colourful, multidisciplinary artist from Quandamooka Country (Moreton and Stradbroke Island). Her artwork Fish Trap was a finalist in the 2018 Telstra NATSIAA.

The work uses real fish scales and natural raffia. Elisa's creative process is inspired by her country, but also by pieces in museum collections, or as she calls it, "bringing them out of the cupboard and bringing life back to them." 

Through her art, Elisa endeavours to reinvigorate her peoples weaving practices. Elisa and a group of Quandamooka women are working together to research and learn a weave that wasn't passed down a generation, to bring that weave back.

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Established in 1984, the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards are Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art awards. Telstra has been the Principal Partner of Telstra NATSIAA for 27 years and together with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, deliver this unique annual event to showcase the best in Indigenous art from across the country. The awards are now firmly established as a key event on Australia’s cultural calendar.

This year unearths new artistic developments in contemporary Indigenous art practices for new and emerging artists, whilst also including major works by some of Australia’s most revered artists.

The Telstra NATSIAA exhibition is now open to the public at MAGNT, 19 Conacher Street, The Gardens, Darwin from 10:00am – 5:00pm daily.

Read more about the Telstra NATSIAA.