27 AM 4869/07
Leah Brady Rug 2/100 2007
Chain stitched, hand dyed wool on heavy cotton backing 1470 x 900mm SOLD
Image description:
This is a story about how the Willy Wagtail (a native bird) People got fire. A flaming fire stick came from Mt Lindsay and landed in the Mann Ranges at Angatja (Leah’s homeland) in South Australia. The Willy Wagtail people picked up the fire stick. They grabbed at it gleefully and took it to their homes as they did not have fire. It is said the fire came from the sea where the Fire Men lived. It was they that it to Mt Lindsay. This mob (Willy Wagtail people) has tried to ctch the fire stick before and they got it before the rain came.

Project:
These beautiful, unique rugs are a cross-cultural collaboration combining Aboriginal designs and traditional Kashmiri rug-making techniques. Chain stitched, using hand dyed wool and finished with a heavy cotton backing, each rug is a completely handmade piece. This project, although in its early stages, is already bringing noticeable benefit to the artists and the community. Purchase of these rugs guarantees a direct return to the Aboriginal artists, as the project is an initiative of Kaltjiti, their own art organisation.

Artist:
Leah Brad grew up in Amata where she went to school. Leah said she will always stay in Amata. Her mother had a travel to Pukutja to give birth to Leah as there was no hospital in Amata. Her parents eventually moved back to her mother’s homeland at Angatja. Leah said she painted at Angatja, “not always, sometimes”. Her dreaming or creation story is the Nigtaka song line. This is a story about the Nigtaka or Lizard man who steals the grinding stone from the Walytjatjata women.