Make a mardawi bag with Ngarrindjeri artist Melanie Koolmatrie at BIGGEST MOB

Melanie Koolmatrie, a multidisciplinary artist of Ngarrindjeri, Peramungk and Boandik heritage, brings a hands-on family session to Artspace at Adelaide Festival Centre on 8 August 2026. The workshop starts at 1pm and is free to attend, making it an easy one to fold into a Saturday out with the kids.

Koolmatrie begins by sharing a Dreaming story with the group. From there, participants pick up pencils and pens and illustrate their own responses across a pair of paper plates. It's a simple format but one that gives room for genuine individual expression, especially for younger participants who might otherwise feel boxed in by a blank sheet of paper.

Once the drawings are done, Koolmatrie ties the two plates together with raffia, transforming them into a mardawi bag that each participant gets to keep. The result is a small, handmade object that carries both a story and a bit of personal artwork, the kind of thing that tends to stick around on a shelf long after the workshop ends.

The session sits within BIGGEST MOB, Adelaide Festival Centre's wider celebration of art by South Australian Aboriginal artists. Running from 10 July to 4 October, BIGGEST MOB spans exhibitions, theatre and music across the venue, and this workshop offers one of its more intimate, participatory entry points. Where much of the program invites audiences to watch and listen, Koolmatrie's session asks people to make something themselves, guided by story and craft rather than instruction alone.

It's a format that works well for families in particular. Younger children can engage with the storytelling and drawing side, while the raffia-tying step gives the workshop a satisfying, tangible finish. There's no pressure to produce a polished piece of art. The point is participation and connection to story, with the bag itself as a memento of that.

Given it's free and slots into a broader festival that runs across nearly three months, it's a low-barrier way to experience part of BIGGEST MOB without committing to a ticketed show. For anyone with kids curious about Aboriginal storytelling and craft, or just after something different to do on a Saturday afternoon, this is worth putting in the diary.