Weaver - Meet Ngadijina
K is for Kakan (black palm)....
Delissa Walker
Since 2019, we have been collaborating with Delissa Walker to provide a space for her to host boutique weaving workshops and sessions at our Port Douglas shopfront.
Delissa (Ngadijina) ~ is a nationally recognised artist who specialises in the practice of traditional basket weaving.
Growing up in Mossman and Cow Bay, Delissa was taught by her grandmother how to make traditional baskets 'balji' out of the native black palm tree 'kakan'.
Being one of the few women who carry this ancient knowledge of weaving forward, she has a passion to teach. Visitors and locals will be encouraged to keep culture alive and given an insight into how these traditional methods and baskets were so important to Kuku Yalanji people in their everyday life.
Discover More...
Book a Tour: Learn the Art of Weaving
Read: Garland Magazine feature
Shop: Kakan gifts
Exhibitions
2014 Emerging Artists, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
2014 UMI “You and Me” Members Exhibition, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2015 UMI “You and Me” Members Exhibition, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2015 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, represented by UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2015 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, represented by UMI Arts, Darwin Northern Territory, Australia
2016 Sculpture Botanica, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2016 Freshwater Saltwater: Moving Time, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2016 UMI “You and Me” Members Exhibition, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2016/17 Who’s Afraid of Colour, National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria, Australia
2017 Going Out: Native Food Plants and Flowers, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Cairns, Queensland,
Australia
2017 Shared Journeys, Cairns Botanical Gardens Visitor Centre, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2017 Freshwater Saltwater: Story About Self, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2017 34th Telstra National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, The Museum and Art Gallery
Northern Territory,Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
2017 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, represented by UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2017 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, represented by UMI Arts, Darwin Northern Territory, Australia
2017/18 ARTNOW, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2018 UMI “You and Me” Members Exhibition, UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2018 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, represented by UMI Arts, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
2018 Mara: Indigenous design, politics and food culture, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, Queensland,
Australia
2018 Measured Response, National Art School, Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2019 Sea Change Tree Change Changing Together, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2019 Artist in Residence, MK Eco by Starwin, Port Douglas
2021 Weaving for Reconciliation Workshop, MK Eco by Starwin, Port Douglas
2021 Cooktown & Cape Expo, commissioned for weaving demonstrations