ABORIGINAL FABRICS FROM AUSTRALIA a Feast for the Eyes at the Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Australian aboriginal fabrics and Lorrkkon (hollow log coffin)at Fowler Museum, UCLA.

If you like textiles and fabric art as much as I do, you will love the exhibit of Aboriginal Screen-Printed Textiles from Australia’s Top End now on view at the Fowler Museum on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. 

Goose egg design (close-up). The interplay of overlapping colors is similar to that in an op-art painting.

Yards and yards of colorful fabrics are displayed, richly colored and featuring images from the natural world and from the lives of the people who made them. The designs are created by contemporary artists at five Aboriginal-owned art centers. As the introduction to the exhibit states, “The exhibition pays tribute to the resilience and beauty of Aboriginal Australia and reminds us of the enduring connections between peoples and their lands.“

Fabrics used in furniture design. Goose egg design in background.

Art and I went to see the exhibit on a Sunday afternoon, and although we had to show our vaccination card and wear a mask, few other people were there. We were particularly interested in this exhibit because of our trip to northern Australia in 2001 when we visited the Injalak Arts and Crafts Center, one of the centers with work on display. The other cooperatives represented in the exhibit are Tiwi Design, Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association,  Bábbarra Women’s Centre, and Merrepen Arts, Culture and Language Aboriginal Corporation

A kangaroo, snake, goose, fish and water lily design greets visitors at the entrance to the exhibit.

From the moment we entered the gallery we were struck by the rich colors and designs of the fabrics. Animals including fish, birds, crocodiles, bats, snakes, frogs and other creatures of the northern Australian landscape are depicted along with fish nets, baskets and other objects traditionally used in everyday life. Elements of the natural world–plants, water, landscape–also play a part in the designs.

Snakes and flying foxes (fruit bats).

In addition to the cloth, there are numerous videos demonstrating how the fabrics are made and explaining some of the cultural connections to the designs. You can view some of these videos online on the Fowler Museum website.

Video explaining the role of rock art images at Injalak.

Many of the screen printed fabrics are purchased by collectors. The fabric is also used for home furnishings and for creating high-end fashionable clothing. 

Prize winning outfit designed by Chloe Moa at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, 2013, using Marita Sambono’s Dagum (Fog dreaming) fabric.

Dressmaker dummies model dresses in another display of the exhibit. Lengths of fabric are available for sale in the Fowler Museum gift store--but are quite expensive.

Designs depicting fish nets, an emergency response to a hurricane, and water lilies.

Admission to the Fowler Museum is free. This exhibit is on view from December 5, 2021 to July 10, 2022. Other exhibits currently on view are Gosette Lubondo: Imaginary Trip; “How Do You See This World?” The Art of Almighty God; and Fowler in Focus: Communication Systems in a Global Context.The museum is open Wed-Sun from 12:00 to 5:00pm.  

Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA