Guppa-Dhii

Weaver

Amy Hammond 

Year

2019-2024

Materials

Hand woven lomandra with Bushells tea bags

Dimensions

1.7 meter diameter

gallery

West Space

Guppa-Dhii (tea) is a tribute to Amy’s grandparents Yvonne and Spoto and the sacred space dhii holds for deep connections, meaningful yarning, and moments of silence. The sacred space created by dhii for building and strengthening relationships is exemplified in the memory of her grandparents travel ritual. As a child, they travelled between Gamilaroi Country - Moree and Wiradjuri Country - Wellington a lot. Her grandparents travelled with their thermos, condensed milk, sugar, and enamel cups. One day their car broke down outside of Coonabarabran, on the Narrabri side. While waiting for her Pop to return, Amy and her Nan shared a dhii.

This memory evokes the smell, taste and warmth of dhii and Amy’s cherished memories with her grandparents. It encapsulates how dhii creates a sacred space even in mundane or challenging circumstances, allowing for the transmission of important life knowledge and cultural values. Like weaving, dhii creates a sacred space for building and strengthening relationships, and it is where some of the most important life knowledge, cultural continuation, and cultural revitalisation happens.

These lomandra weavings are modelled after Yvonne and Spoto’s enamel cups and celebrate shared moments while drinking dhii everywhere they travelled. The enamel cups, now recreated through Hammond's weaving, symbolise not just the physical vessels for dhii, but the vessels of memory, culture, and relationship. The physical act of weaving these cups with lomandra becomes a tangible representation of the intangible bonds between people, and between people and Country.