Reclaim the Void was born from Ngalia elders in Leonora, Western Australia, expressing their pain and grief at ‘those gaping mining holes left all over our country’. The vision is to create a huge ‘dot’ artwork to lay on land affected by mining, created from 3,000 hand-woven rugs made from discarded fabric by people from around Australia and beyond. The finished artwork, inspired by a painting by passed Ngalia elder and custodian for country, DW, will express the story of the country on which it is laid, on Ngalia tjukurrpa parna - sacred country - in the north-east Goldfields.

Country is alive with story, song, dance, law, tjukurrpa. When we wound country, we wound ourselves, and end up with a scarred physical and cultural landscape. This project carries the desire for healing country, healing community, and healing ourselves. It is about acknowledging the hurt and contributing to restoration.

In the words of Ngalia cultural leader Kado Muir: “We’re working at a cultural and sacred level, creating a community of people each weaving their stories, contributing to an artwork that makes a statement about reclaiming the spirit of earth.”

Reclaim the Void sits at the meeting place of land art, contemporary textiles, community, story and culture. It expresses a shared desire for conciliation and is the collaborative recognition of country as alive, vulnerable and sacred. We invite you to join us.

Reclaim the Void weaves a connection for spirit on sacred lands  | Likirri wiya palyara tjiltilku pimarra parnaku

We needed a lot of rugs! So far we have nearly 3,000 rugs, contributed from communities all over Australia, and around the world. Each one carries the beauty of intent and care that has been woven into its fabric.

Reclaim the Void is also about stories. We are developing an interactive digital ‘rugalogue’ - a catalogue of each rug made, and the stories that the maker may choose to accompany their rug. The final artwork will include the tapestry of stories of all the people who have contributed to it, and will be a story in its own right, of our collective love, respect, and wish to care for country.

It’s the journey, the story, the healing and symbolic reclaiming, the acknowledgement of careless over-consumption at others’ expense, that is central to Reclaim the Void. We are having a conversation about caring for country and its custodians, and inviting everyone to be part of that through modest, small-scale acts that collectively create something special.

Guided by cultural protocols, the final artwork will be brought to life on the country for which it was created - a symbol of hope and healing.

If we piled up every rug that has been contributed so far, we would have a tower 60m high - which happens to be the same height as the leaning tower of Pisa…

Over 100 schools have been part of Reclaim the Void and it’s been a delight to receive so many rugs from small hands and big hearts.

Over 150 workshops have been run by individuals, community groups, organisations and businesses.

There is a small group of people who have individually made 50 rugs or more. And on the other side, some rugs are made by over 20 people working together to weave their community into one rug.

If we un-wove every one of the 3,000 rugs we have, and laid out the strips of fabric, we could make a continual line stretching 120kms.

We can safely say that there are more blue sheets than any other colour in op shops and people’s linen cupboards! Our next most popular colour is pink, followed by green, red and purple.