Edited by Louise Hamby, published by Injalak Arts and Crafts, Gunbalanya (Oenpelli), 2005

Twined Together tells a story about the fibrework of Gunbalanya, weaving together historical, ethnographic, aesthetic and economic threads. While the book is rigorously researched and includes essays by specialists in a variety fields, the narrative consistently embraces core advocacy issues. The significance of fibrework is investigated; its cultural positioning is historically deconstructed and revalued within a contemporary context. And fibre artists are acknowledged and included in the text. At times the reader is immersed in Kunwinjku culture, challenged by the unfamiliarity of the language.

The names, relationships and words are loaded with meanings the reader may not be aware of and parallels the experience of going into the community. The visitor embarks on a journey of discovery, learning a new way of thinking and relating to people places and things. For instance, the parts of a basket are ascribed names of body parts; a basket will be lifted by the arm (handle) like a small child. The practice reflects the cultural epistemology which focuses on relationships rather than identifying components and defining them in terms of binary oppositions. These kinds of insights, which Twined Together introduces, but is not always able to elaborate upon due to cultural sensitivities around inside and outside stories, is of enormous cultural importance and is subtly conveyed to readers.

It is no accident that the publication depends on narrative. It plays a central role in conveying, creating and ordering cultural meanings and is used in Twined Together for its communicative and didactic potential. A layering of the story is partly due to the number of contributors, who tell different, but interrelated and overlapping parts. A deep time perspective is provided by rock art specialists from the Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), George Chaloupka and Pina Giuliani. They demonstrate the antiquity of making and using fibre objects by examining evidence at Gunbalanya's rock art sites and relating it to Kunwinjku oral traditions. Fibre art, as a dynamic continuing cultural practice, is also documented in the ethnographic collections and notes of anthropologists. The relations of cultural exchanges between makers and collectors including Cahill, Spencer, Mountford and the Berndts are reviewed with reference to collection materials by contributors: Lindy Allen, Sally May, Margie West, Phillip Jones and Louise Hamby.

Essays by these writers track the development of fibre practice and its positioning within the western cultural paradigm. Fibrework, has been the province of women, who have been economically marginalized as anonymous makers of 'handicrafts' when compared with their male counterparts, who are acclaimed as bark painters. In his forward, Howard Morphy tells a revealing tale. He attended a 1978 lecture at the ANU, where Creative Arts Fellow, Ngaritjin Maymaru, eschewed the assembled bark paintings, choosing instead to introduce students to Yolngu values by starting with the creation story; by showing them a basket and a digging stick. Bininj similarly believe that the first people came from baskets that were carried by the creator spirit, Minyalawuy. Baskets have symbolic and metaphoric associations that contemporaneously link Bininj cosmology with everyday objects and actions. Just as a-basket-is-not-just-a-basket in the Bininj context, for Christians, a-cross-is-not-just-a-cross; the crucifix is linked to sacred stories, rituals and complex codes of behaviour, social structures and systems of belief.

Twined Together cleverly, yet subtly explores cross cultural experience. Hamby, as editor, plays a pivotal role in linking anthropological and historical research with contemporary art and museum practice to effect a revision of the significance of Kunwinjku fibre art. The processes of aesthetic and technical innovation and making are integral to the lived experience of Gunbalanya's artists. Individual artistic approaches, conceptual intentions and technical signatures are revealed both from Hamby's perspective as curator and in the words of many of the artists, which are included as quotes throughout the book. The inclusion of parallel Kunwinjku language texts provides cross-cultural authority and underscores the collaborative nature of the Twined Together project.

The book's publication has been facilitated by the Injalk Arts and Craft Centre and is an important cultural document for Bininj. Twined Together includes a glossary of terms, a spelling and pronunciation guide, a catalogue of contemporary fibre artists' with biographies and photographs. Injalak coordinator Anthony Murphy also explores the sensitive balance of his role as an arts worker as well as Injalak's economic and cultural value within the Gunbalanya community. His description of a 'wet season foray' to visit master fibre artists at Mamadawerre outstation reveals some of the logistical challenges of working in the region. While the breathtaking landscape and people feature in images that serve to contextualize and personalize the narratives, the images of fibrework are absolutely inspiring. In particular, the close details that take up whole pages and introduce sections of the book are stunning.

The technical virtuosity of the artists both in dyeing and fibrework can be properly appreciated when looking at these intensely coloured, patterned and textured images. The staggering range of vegetable dye colours, including black, blue (if the berries make it to the dyepot), purple and magenta through to red, orange and yellow to bright green, is not as obvious in the smaller images or in studio shots taken against a disappointing brown background. Part II of Twined Together, 'Everything About Fibre Forms', is a definitive catalogue of technical and aesthetic variation in Kunwinjku basketry. Not only an authoritative resource for researchers and collectors, this Injalak publication will be a valuable resource for Gunbalanya's future generations of artists. Twined Together is culturally rich and informative to read and fascinating to look at.

Ann McMahon

Ann McMahon is the contributing craft editor for Artlook Magazine in the ACT. She writes extensively on contemporary craft practice. Ann has a background in textiles.