Australia · Basketry / Coiled Sculpture
Tjanpi
Tjanpi (an Ngaanyatjarra word for grass) is the coiled grass weaving tradition of women from the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, and Yankunytjatjara (NPY) communities of Australia's Western Desert — producing coiled fiber sculptures that combine functional basket forms with figurative representation (animals, vehicles, figures) unique in the global basket tradition. The Tjanpi Desert Weavers cooperative (established 1995) has documented and supported this tradition. The technique uses local spinifex grass (Triodia sp.) or other desert grasses coiled in a continuous spiral and stitched with raffia or wool thread. The defining technical knowledge is the tension-spiral: the coil must be maintained at exactly the same tension throughout — the spiral either tightens toward the center or opens outward, depending on which end of the coil the stitcher pulls from. Control of spiral direction determines the three-dimensional form.
Risk level: Endangered · Australia national ICH list; AIATSIS registered tradition
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