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Pouch

c. 2019
Artist/Maker
WIRES

Knitted pouch with varigated purple stripes.

Object details

Category
Rapid Response Collecting
Object type
pouch
Materials and techniques
Hand knitted with wool and a sewn cotton liner.
Wool
Cotton (Textile)
Hand Knitting
Brief description
Hand knitted wool pouch made for joeys, baby kangaroos, affected by the Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020.
Physical description
Knitted pouch with varigated purple stripes.
Gallery label
(19/06/2021)
24.04.2021
Hand-knitted joey pouches

An estimated 3 billion animals died in the
devastating bushfires in Australia in 2019–20.
During this period, referred to as the ‘Black
Summer’, animal welfare charities called on the
public to make and donate knitted pouches for
orphaned animals.

These pouches were sent to WIRES, a charity caring
for joeys (baby kangaroos) in Brookvale, New South
Wales. The loose threads and wool transitions
are visible because the knit is reversed so that
the softest side forms the pouch interior. Local
and international crafters responded with such
fervour to the call-outs that some organisations
became inundated with donations and had to stop
accepting them.

The worsening of wildfires in recent years has widely
been attributed to climate change by the scientific
community, and fires are expected to return in
years to come. While the response from the crafting
community demonstrates a desire to mitigate the
impact of natural disasters like these, it does not
address their cause. We are still left with questions
about human consumption, human-animal
relations and the best ways to prevent biodiversity
loss in the face of the climate crisis.

Joey pouches 
2020 
Designed and knitted anonymously 
Wool outer with cotton lining 
Given by WIRES 
Museum nos. CD.31:1, 2; 32:1, 2 and 33:1, 2-2021 
Credit line
Given by WIRES
Associations
WIRES
Australia
Collection
Design, Architecture and Digital Department
Accession number
CD.33-2021

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Record createdApril 9, 2021
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1604194/pouch-wires/
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