Sonja Carmichael and Elisa Jane Carmichael, Ngumpi (home) (detail), 2022-2023. Ungaire, driftwood, talwalpin (cotton tree), mangrove bark dyed silk fabric, shells and string. Photo: Andrew Curtis. Courtesy: the artists, Onespace, Brisbane, and Redland Art Gallery, Brisbane.

Drawing inspiration from weaving practices from Quandamooka Country, CREATE EXCHANGE: Ngumpi celebrates the resilience of tradition through intergenerational expressions of saltwater Country and identity over two venues in Cleveland: Redland Art Gallery, and RPAC Mezzanine (Redland Performing Arts Centre).

This collaborative artist-led exhibition featuring Ngugi women Sonja Carmichael and Elisa Jane Carmichael showcases new and existing works in various mediums, including weaving, print media and sound. Their work centres on ancestral knowledge, matrilineal connections and ongoing relationships to the lands, plants and sacred waters of Quandamooka.

The works on show at the Redland Art Gallery predominantly tell the story of the importance of ‘ungaire’ (reeds). Ungaire has been gathered on spirited lands of Quandamooka for generations to make ‘gulayi’ (dillybags).  With a particular woven knot, these uniquely designed and woven gulayi are deeply connected to Quandamooka stories.

This exhibition is part of a three-year project collectively titled CREATE EXCHANGE which supports artist-residency style exhibitions and activations within the Redlands Cultural Precinct. Sonja and Elisa’s approach to CREATE EXCHANGE: Ngumpi is evocative of contemporary caring for and preserving Country, and how these stories relate to their shared connection to all living things.