Dick and Clayton Lang were the two human fatalities of the
2020 bushfires.

 

“My artistic basket weaving work seems to always be about death, a theme I feel comes from this place. The traditional owners of this region would weave large mats to wrap up their deceased, these were sometimes placed in trees. This island is widely acknowledged as a point of departure for the spirits of the deceased on their journey to the next place. Never before have I personally touched by so many deaths as my decade living in this small island community.

 

12 months after the bushfires I returned to the spend time in the
islands scorched west end. The recovery of the natural environment had been slow, but it was happening and it was beautiful. Amongst the rich and colourful regrowth the blackened sticks of the Slender Honey
Myrtle had a dramatic presence, their sinuous lines appealing to my basket weavers eye.”

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Basketboy (Matt Nettheim) is an award-winning Kangaroo Island based basket weaver who works exclusively with locally sourced plants. Deep plant relationships and respectful harvesting and are a key component of Basketboys ethos as a weaver, as time is taken to get to know the plants, offerings made, and permission given prior to any plants being used.

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Since weaving his first ugly basket a decade ago, Basketboy has studied weaving in indigenous communities throughout Australia, picked up lots of tips and techniques from YouTube but mainly just experimented with the plants that he comes across learning the language of weaving from the plants themselves and the inherent mathematics that exist in nature.

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Basketboy has been a feature of Kangaroo Islands markets for the past decade where he live weaves his signature baby rattles and hanging baskets as well as introducing kids to rope making and basket weaving techniques. He has also held several workshops to share his weaving knowledge with anyone who is interested.