Country Road has co-designed a homewares range with painter and printmaker Kieren Karritpul, resulting in five ceramic bowls and three linen textiles.
The textiles include two tea towels and a table runner that were hand-screen printed at Printink Studio in Collingwood, Victoria.
At Printink Studio, every piece of cloth is printed, touched and assembled by Jason Cecani and Nadia Husiak, with a focus on using 100% natural fibres where possible.
Throughout the dyeing process, Printink sources Australian-produced ink which is water-based and solvent-free.
The screen-printed fabrics are then delivered to ABMT Apparel in Melbourne, where they are cut, sewn and trimmed into tea towels and table runners.
Victoria’s Bendigo Pottery was chosen to design the ceramic pieces, with clay sourced from central Victoria, and moulded, printed and fired in-house at the studio.
Country Road head of design in home Ty Symonds said the co-design process commenced in 2020, following Karritpul’s Textile Design Award win at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards.
“When Kieren was sharing his stories of home with us, the importance of the billabongs, mermaids and turtles of the Naiyu community became really clear,” Symonds said. “That’s when we decided on a dining range because it was about life-giving, sharing with family and community.”
According to Karritpul, each piece tells a different story from the traditional lands of the Nauiyu/Daly River region where he lives.
Karritpul has been creating art since he was 15 years old, learning from the women in his community who wove baskets and fishing nets.
“I didn't choose to be an artist because I was already born to be an artist from my grandmother, great-grandmother and mother,” Karritpul said. “I'm the fourth generation of that artist.”
Cultural advisor to Country Road and Cox Inall Ridgeway general manager Yatu Widders Hunt said co-designing is about genuinely working together.
“This project is a beautiful example of a good practice co-design approach where the artist and their aspirations guide the project from end to end,” Hunt said. “Collaboration and partnership are about genuinely working together, making decisions together and building a respect for one another.”
The range will be Country Road’s first co-design, and will be sold in select Country Road stores and online from June 30.