Ernabella Ceramic platter by Jillian Davey, 2008

The 2008 JamFactory workshop at Ernabella marked a significant moment of creative exchange between one of Australia’s most remote Aboriginal art centres and Adelaide’s leading contemporary craft institution. Through an intensive program focused on decorative underglazing techniques, Ernabella artists translated ancestral Anangu designs onto ceramic platters, bringing cultural knowledge into a new material and contemporary form.

The collaboration fostered both technical skill development and artistic innovation, resulting in a formal production partnership in which Ernabella artists created distinctive ceramic wares for JamFactory. These platters often feature Anangu stories, symbols and rhythmic patterns, expressing enduring connections to Country while engaging with the language of modern craft.

Exhibited and sold through JamFactory, the works introduced Aboriginal ceramic practice to urban audiences and highlighted the vitality of cross-cultural collaboration. The project stands as a strong example of how traditional knowledge and contemporary design can intersect, producing works that are both culturally grounded and visually compelling.