Ghost Nets To Bags

2007-07-26

-Voices of the people who came to the workshop -
We are the Kiriri Arts and Craft Group. We’ve just completed a five-day workshop with Chantal Cordey and Miggs Bodie, making bags from ghost nets as part of the Carpentaria Ghost Nets Project.

Chantal won the Design for a Sea Change Award with a guitar strap woven from ghost nets; that’s how she came to be with us. She worked out a way of weaving the nets into bags and was here to show us.

When we saw the big pile of nets outside our workshed some of us thought, “What’s this rubbish doing here? Did someone just dump it?” The rangers had brought the nets up; they’d already seen a picture of the bag Chantal had made so they knew what was happening but some of us didn’t know what to expect. Maybe these people from south would be like lecturers; maybe it was a stupid idea. As someone said, “We weren’t too sure about them at first! Some of us arrived at the workshed and wondered what people were doing just sitting around unpicking nets. We couldn’t imagine what to do with them until Chantal showed us. Here were some ideas for us to develop.

Two Kaurareg rangers came over from Horn Island. They’d heard there were going to be some miracles with ghost nets and wanted to see what was happening. Then everyone wanted to make useful and beautiful things out of rubbish. These old ghost nets that had been wandering the ocean killing turtles and dugong and sharks and fish and collecting rubbish and fouling props and washing up on reefs and beaches, these old ghost nets had potential!

At first we only thought of crayfish bags and hammocks but now we’ve had a lot of ideas for things we can create. And people like the bags. During the week other community people came up to us when they saw the work and now we will share our skills with them. Someone said, “I can teach my mother. She loves weaving”

Compiled by those at the workshop.

I’m really impressed by the way the members of the group flew with the idea and added their own creative input.

Chantal

Thank you all for your goodwill in preparing for the workshop, for your energy and commitment and for your hospitality and laughter

Chantal and Miggs