Assemblage

reclaim the Void

A message to all the Weavers;

‘Well, collectively, we’ve done it! 3,000 rugs, and still collecting and counting!!! Thank you so much to all of you for being involved. I know not all of you got to completed rugs – but that’s ok. Collectively we did, and every little bit of intention, of cloth, of hands and care, whether it ended in a rug or not, has been vital along the way.’

Vivienne Robertson, Creative Director – Reclaim the Void.

Our school has participated in the national project Reclaim the Void. To contribute to the project, students engaged in learning weaving and circular rug-making techniques. With each rug created holding heart and story and a gift to Country. Together, with people from across Australia and beyond, there have been over 3,000 rugs contributed. These rugs will be tied together at an event at the WA Museum in Perth, called ‘Assemblage’, in early July. (During Victorian school holidays.)

Assemblage

During Assemblage some 3000 small, circular rag rugs will be tied together into the component dots of the vast artwork. The process will be completed later in situ on Ngalia tjukurrpa parna – sacred Country.

Reclaim the Void are offering two livestreams: one of the Opening Wed 3rd July 5pm WA time and the second of a session of Assemblage. The links and timing for the second livestream will be on their website and social media very soon. https://www.reclaimthevoid.com.au/

The vision of Reclaim the Void is to create a huge textile ‘dot’ artwork, to lay on land affected by mining. The project arose from hearing the grief of Ngalia Elders about those ‘gaping mining holes left all over our Country’. The finished artwork, inspired by a painting by passed Ngalia Elder and Custodian for Country, DW, will express a story of Country.

In the words of Ngalia cultural leader Kado Muir, ‘We’re working at a cultural and sacred level, creating a community of people each weaving their stories, contributing to an artwork that makes a statement about reclaiming the spirit of Earth.’ Reclaim the Void sits at the meeting place of land art, contemporary textiles, story and culture. It expresses a shared desire for conciliation and is the collaborative recognition of Country as alive, vulnerable and sacred (RV 2024).

We’re so happy to have engaged with the project it has been a learning journey of doing and making, tangles and untangling, persistence, collaboration, active citizenship, sustainability, empathy, healing, and hope. It has been fun weaving together with hula hooping, singing, sharing and playing with colour. We hope parents and carers, students and our school community will continue to follow Reclaim the Void as the rugs made by students become joined to the greater artwork and final installation.