• Facilitate education in environmentally responsible, sustainable and traditional crafts.
• Support cultural conservation in  communities where traditional knowledge and weaving skills still exist.
• Create the quiet space to allow for individual personal reflection and creative expression. 
• To create socially & culturally inclusive educational programs
• To provide engaging activities that immerse participants in the natural environment       
• To facilitate cross cultural dialogue & exchange
• To empower the individual learning needs of each student in a positive, safe, creative & focused learning environment.
• To promote & preserve traditional knowledge of weaving, basketry & fibre
• Team building skills are developed with large scale group sculptural projects.

Connection to our past

Weaving is a global activity which connects us to the natural environment, identifies us and unites us.The ancient skills and knowledge of styles and techniques whisper stories of cultural heritage as they pass from generation to generation.
Throughout history traditional people have used the materials available in their local natural environment to create functional items necessary for survival.
The most recent discovery of the oldest intact basket is 10,500 years old!

Through the skills of weaving the local vines, barks and grasses of their area, people carry food and water, hunt and trap prey, cook and clean. They use dye colours teased from leaves, bark and roots for decoration. They weave decorative clothing and sacred objects for ceremonies.

Connection to our selves and community

In this busy and changeable world, many people are overloaded with stimulus which can bring about an overwhelming sense of disconnect and anxiety. It’s easy to get caught up with life and forget to nurture our physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Loneliness, unhealthy stress levels and mental health concerns, are all common issues that many are dealing with, some of which can stem from a disconnection from family, support networks and nature. 

 Weaving has a therapeutic, meditative and calming effect through the very nature of it being a creative, tactile, focused and repetitive activity. Quiet self-reflections occurs when one is deeply engaged with the task at hand. So when you put the two together and gather to create with natural fibres in a natural setting, the beneficial rewards are experienced on a physical and emotional level.

• Directors choice Shearwater Wearable Arts for “Achronychia acidula” November 2013
• Second prize winner for woven Baby basket “Labour of love”  Ocean Shores Arts Classic 2011
• Visual Arts First prize winner for Artemixel at Shearwater’s Wearable Arts 2009

• Josie Hogan
• Bapak Dar – Bali, Indonesia
• Ibu Ketut – Bali, Indonesia
• Wayan Surianta – Bali, Indonesia