Danielle Cooley b. 1990
9 1/2 x 14 5/8 x 6 1/4 in
Tjanpi (meaning ‘dry grass’) evolved from a series of basket weaving workshops held on remote communities in the Western
Desert by the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunyjatjara Women’s Council in 1995. Building on traditions of using fibre for
medicinal, ceremonial and daily purposes, women took easily to making coiled baskets. These new-found skills were shared with
relations on neighbouring communities and weaving quickly spread. Today over 400 women across 28 communities are making
baskets and sculptures out of grass and working with fibre in this way is firmly embedded in Western and Central desert culture.
While out collecting desert grasses for their fibre art, women visit sacred sites and traditional homelands, hunt and gather food
for their families and teach their children about country. Tjanpi Desert Weavers is Aboriginal owned and is directed by an
Aboriginal executive. It is an arts business but also a social enterprise that provides numerous social and cultural benefits and
services to weavers and their families. Tjanpi’s philosophy is to keep culture strong, maintain links with country and provide
meaningful employment to the keepers and teachers of the desert weaving business.