The subtle scent, form and hue of Koolmatrie's Eel traps, elegantly woven from native grasses, palpably evoke the environment of the Murray River. However, as that great river is threatened, so too are the sedge grasses themselves, and Koolmatrie's way of life.

A commission for the University of South Australia Art Collection

Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Ngarrindjeri language group, Eel trap 2008, woven sedge, 229 x 56 x 43cm. Image © the artist. Photograph by Grant Hancock  

Past exhibitions

Yvonne Koolmatrie: Eel Traps
7 August – 6 September 2009
Gallery 3

Yvonne Koolmatrie has lived all her life in Ngarrindjeri country, which ranges from the Coorong, a wetland wilderness at the mouth of the Murray River upstream to the present-day farming communities of South Australia's lower Murray Riverland.  

Exhibition catalogue (PDF file, 983kb)