Adornment Weaving Workshops

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Join Papua New Guinean artist, Petra Arifeae, for hands-on weaving workshops exploring the basics of crafting bilas (body adornment) inspired accessories and jewellery. Create your own bilas to honour and celebrate the traditional artisan skills of Papua New Guinean women, in celebration of our current special exhibition, Bilas: Body Adornment from Papua New Guinea.

Unleash your creativity in either the jewellery weaving workshop and design handcrafted jewellery and body adornment or explore techniques of weaving bilas inspired accessories in the craft weaving workshop, including baskets, fans, purses, placemats and more. Delve into the diversity of weaving styles, techniques and materials and personal stories and practices of bilas.

In Papua New Guinea the practice of body adornment is known as bilas, a word from the pidgin language Tok Pisin, and celebrates the intrinsic interconnection of peoples to place and to all things living.

The workshop will break for lunch. Lunch is not included in the ticket price.

Petra Arifeae is a Papua New Guinean cultural practitioner and award-winning community-based leader, living in Sydney.

Petra is passionate about creating opportunities for men and women living rural and remote areas of Papua New Guinea through raising the bar in education. Influenced by family and strong women in her community, Petra was determined to create change by overcoming challenges that the Papua New Guinean community face in accessing education.