Skip to main content

100th Blog Giveaway - Bilum


A bilum is a string bag made by hand in Papua New Guinea, using a string looping technique. Traditionally, the string used was hand-made, from plant material – the bark of a plant called “lepa”. Now, however, most bilums are made from store bought brightly coloured yarn and many contemporary patterns have become popular, even those generated by computer.

Bilums are used to carry a wide range of items, from shopping goods in large bilums to personal items in purse-sized varieties. Mothers often carry their babies in bilums, and the bilum is said to be “womb-like” and associated with security and reassurance for a baby. In the past, bilums were used to carry food home after gardening or hunting. Bilums were also used to decorate an area where a dead person would be laid for viewing. Another really important and significant use of bilums was as contributions to the payment of the bride price. Bilums remain as a prized gift to exchange with friends or visitors.


As I have recently returned from Papua New Guinea, I am very happy to offer a bilum and a wooden wall hanging depicting the national symbol, Bird of Paradise as a special giveaway to celebrate my 100th blog post. Both of these artifacts ( pictured) are handmade by friends who live in Mando, a village in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. All you need to do to be eligible for this unique gift is to leave a comment with your contact details. I will draw a name next Tuesday, 19 October, noon Australian Eastern Summer Time.


I will be participating this weekend in the Hunter Homeless Sleep Out and am seeking sponsors, with all funds raised to support the Hunter Homeless Connect Day – a day of acknowledgement and support for the homeless and marginalized in our own local community. Please read all about it and donate online if you would like to support this community event – here is the link.   Hunter Homeless Sleep Out

Labels:

Comments

  1. baukjeOctober 13, 2010 at 5:30 AM

    What a beautiful giveaway . I wold love to win this. I am Baukje, a Dutch woman who lives in France. On my blog is also a giveaway, you are welcome.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQV45Wichw

    ReplyDelete
  2. EvalinaMariaOctober 13, 2010 at 6:09 AM

    I would love to be entered in your giveaway draw. I've never been to Papua New Guinea, maybe some day...

    ReplyDelete
  3. michelleKOctober 14, 2010 at 6:42 PM

    It looks magicallll. I would love to be included.

    Hope you had a fabulous journey.

    I have a giveaway on to CHECK out my blog.

    http://michellekartdolls.blogspot.com/

    <3Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    Hi Wilma,

    I just wanted to write to say hi and thank you for sharing the beautiful photos of PNG on your blog. I gain such inspiration from nature and culture and your photos are truly that - inspiring! I also visited your etsy store and found your beaded creations amazing!
    I'd love to be included in your competition please.
    Should you like to swing by the Daisy & Mister blog I too have a competition on at present that you may be interested in:
    http://daisyandmister.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-competition-time.html

    All the best with you etsy store, I wish you every sucess.

    Arita
    Daisy & Mister
    http://daisyandmister.blogspot.com
    http://www.etsy.com/DaisyAndMister

    ReplyDelete
  5. tractorgirlOctober 16, 2010 at 11:59 AM

    that wall hanging is great! please enter me :)
    (and I'll tweet for you as well)

    e: rawmettle {at} yahoo dot com dot au

    ReplyDelete
  6. melanieOctober 16, 2010 at 2:09 PM

    Those are fabulous prizes, Wilma! You do some amazing work over there.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GillOctober 16, 2010 at 7:53 PM

    What a great giveaway!
    Please count me in
    Gill

    ReplyDelete
  8. SGILLJune 13, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    Absolutely a great idea, authentic design, great colours and for many different purposes. Count me in, it would be a huge pleasure to have in my possession one of these glorious and glamorous bags.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h
5 comments
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str
3 comments
Read more

Too Precious to Waste

 Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons  More than a year ago, a decision was made.  The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2]  A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that
Post a Comment
Read more