Weaving the past and present story of the Wangkumara people

Bonnie, Jacinta and Kendra showing off some of their beautiful art and craft work. Photo: contributed

Story by Tricia Duffield

What started as a simple weaving hobby with her sister has evolved into a powerful means of storytelling for Bourke’s Bonnie Smith.

Bonnie (Verhonda) and her sister Jacinta learned their weaving skills through their grandmother, Dawn Smith. As they picked up the intricacies of the traditional craft, they were also learning the stories of their ancestors through Dawn.

Today, those stories, and the beautiful works of art created by Bonnie and Jacinta are in demand and have recently been showcased at the highly regarded Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

Bonnie told The Western Herald that it was a conscious decision to ‘push the boundaries’ of their traditional weaving, combining ancient legends, painful history and vibrant contemporary design into their work.

Bonnie, who is now based in Cairns working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Service, sees weaving as a way of connecting to family, and keeping language and tradition alive.

“We picked it up just for fun and began making earrings and selling them or giving them to friends and family, and then we had the opportunity to have a market stall where we could sell them or show them in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair exhibition,” Bonnie said.

“We thought we should have a go and try something a bit more out of our comfort zone, so we applied for the art show, where we could share our story in more depth, and we thought we’ll give it a hot crack, and put ourselves out there. […]

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