A toddler loses her father, she is the youngest of seven children and as such, was the only child permitted to remain with her Aboriginal mother, whilst the others were sent off to the orphanage. It is the 1950’s and widowed Aboriginal women were not deemed fit by the authorities to bring up their children.
That toddler is now one of Australia’s foremost exponents of weaving and bush sculpture. Her name is Janine McAullay Bott and one of her most significant works entitled My Brothers’ Keeper has just been acquired for an exhibition at Les Musées de la civilisation in Quebec Canada which will open in October next year.
The exhibition with the working title of Contemporary Artworks by Indigenous People of Australia will take place in the 8600 square foot exhibition space in Québec City, and include works by some of Australia’s highest profile Indigenous artists.
McAullay Bott developed her skills and profile in fibre-weaving whilst living in Hawaii, including spending time with Hopi Indian Rug Weavers and Kachina Doll makers in Nevada, USA. After living for many years in Hawaii and travelling the globe Janine returned to Perth to dedicate much of her time caring for her elderly mother Rena (dec.) to whom most of her artwork is dedicated.
Mainly creating woven animals and objects from palm fronds, local grasses, reeds and other plant materials, her weaves embody the essence and humour of her Noongar culture as witnessed in her award winning Dhalkatj –Bilby, winner of the Wandjuk Marika Three-Dimensional Memorial Award in the prestigious 2009 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander awards.
There is no humour in the subject matter of this weave, only sadness and trauma. Nevertheless it is the one time that McAullay Bott felt driven to make a statement about the issue of the stolen generation, having witnessed at close hand the misery of her brothers’ time at Clontarf Boy’s Home.
My Brothers’ Keeper is a strong statement, but as McAullay Bott says “I was driven to weave this, I felt I had to as it is such a blight on our history and forgiveness does not come from forgetting”.
Janine McAullay Bott is represented in Perth by Artitja Fine Art in South Fremantle.
