The production of sculptural fibre objects has a long history within Aboriginal Australian culture. Historically, such objects had practical or ceremonial purposes, and some appeared in both contexts. The terms “art” and “craft” are difficult to apply in historical contexts, as they are not originally Aboriginal conceptual divisions. However, in a contemporary context, these objects are now generally regarded as contemporary art whenever they are presented as such.^[1] This categorisation is often applied to objects with historically practical or ceremonial applications, as well as a growing category of new fibre forms which have been innovated in the past decades and produced for a fine art market. The border between Aboriginal fibre sculpture and fibre craft is not clearly delineated, and some works may be regarded as either depending on the context of their display and use.

There are various examples of sculptural fibre works in pre-contact Aboriginal societies. Among the Rembarrnga people of Central Arnhem Land, sculptural fibre objects are a central feature of ceremony. Participants dance with animal figures, which are constructed by binding a core of paperbark or grass with string made from bark or other fibres.^[2] Thus a dancer may take on the identity of the Ancestor figure.^[3] Djondjon or djawurn-djawurn figures from central and western Arnhem Land have a similar construction, but depict human forms. These were left behind at campsites which people had vacated. A longer or raised arm indicated to others the direction in which the group had gone.^[4]

Aboriginal fibre works until the later decades of the 20th century were almost universally regarded and marketed as ethnographic or craft items.^[5] However various factors, beginning around the 1970s, began to see fibre works enter the fine art market. First among these was the Australian government support for Aboriginal art centres, which increased from around the 1970s.^[6] This provided more marketing, feedback and art world exposure to practitioners, which encouraged them to create innovative and ambitious products and exhibit their traditional works in new contexts.^[7] Parallel to this, a number of exhibitions and awards began to exhibit fibre works in a fine art context, which helped change public and collector perceptions. These included the exhibitions Maningrida: The Language of Weaving (1989), Spinifex Runner (1999) and Twined Together (2005), as well as awards such as the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).^[8] Major galleries such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane also began to exhibit fibre works within their collections as fine art.^[9]

Most Aboriginal fibre artists are women, originally trained in making practical items such as fish traps, baskets, string bags and mats.^[10] However many urban Aboriginal artists have been inspired to learn traditional weaving skills, often using innovative materials or translating fibre works into other media such as cast metal and glass.^[11]

• Indigenous Australian art