11/07/2026
The Award celebrates material-based making with a strong focus on technique and craft-led process.
Works are on display at Tactile 11-25 July 2026, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–2pm at Tactile Arts Gallery.
Congratulations to Alice Kungiung 🙏🏽💜
We are incredibly proud to congratulate Alice Kungiung, whose beautiful handwoven pandanus basket, My Mum’s Stitch, was selected as a finalist in the 2026 Northern Territory Craft Awards, hosted by Tactile Arts.
Alice’s work is far more than a basket—it’s a story of family, culture and the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next.
Taught to weave by her mum and aunties in Peppimenarti, her Mother’s Country, Alice learned from a young age. Every Thursday after school, the children—especially the girls—would gather with their Aunty to weave together. On weekends, they would head out bush to collect pandanus and native plants, preparing natural dyes by stripping leaves, grinding plant materials and sharing stories as they worked.
After moving to Wadeye, seeing the pandanus growing again rekindled Alice’s passion for weaving.
“When I first moved to Wadeye in February and saw the pandanus, I really wanted to do it again.”
Alice explains that the pandanus is at its best after the big rains, and that different dye mixtures create different colours. Ashes are mixed with the dye to produce darker tones, while lighter colours require clean buckets to keep the colours bright and vibrant.
Perhaps the most meaningful part of the piece is captured in Alice’s own words:
“In this basket I used my mum’s stitch that she taught me.”
This simple statement carries generations of knowledge, love and connection.
Congratulations, Alice, on this well-deserved recognition. Thank you for sharing your story and helping keep culture strong through your weaving. We are so proud of you 🙏🏽💜
Darrikardu Art Collective
Alice Kungigung
