Hey you! Have you heard the announcement of my first exhibition? Come read about this amazing news here!

Anyway, hello! I am Christelle, African textile artist.

I am a born Mauritian, a naturalised Australian and a French resident. I am a weaver and a dye artist, using African techniques and aesthetics both in my weaving and my dye work. Bold colours, contrasts and textures is my perspective of life which translate in my art. I challenge the visual, the emotion and the social norms.

Ubuntu is a Bantu concept in various southern African languages, including Zulu, Nyanja and other languages in the region; it means:

“I am because you are”

Ubuntu is humanness… a concept embraced in southern African cultures which reflect the humanism in a community. One’s existence is dependent on another.

Similarly, when we look at a woven cloth structure, weft is nothing without the warp, and multiple warp ends for that matter. My artistic journey wouldn’t be anything without the support I received when I started out until today, especially within the babywearing weavers and wearers communities.

I am a Bantu woman.

My ancestors were stolen from the east coast of the African continent and sent to Mauritius, an east-African volcanic island, a former European colony where they were enslaved. Today, I am freeing myself from mental and cultural colonisation that still lingers, and I am reclaiming my identity and culture. My art is but a tool.

Explore my textile art in the ‘Woven Stories‘ section of the website. To learn more about commissioning work from me, visit the ‘About‘ page.

Ubuntu Fibres acknowledges the indigenous cultures that kept weaving practices alive. We recognise that our knowledge today around weaving, dyeing and even babywearing is thanks to many cultures that have survived various forms of oppression. We pay special respect to the Noongar People on whose country Ubuntu Fibres was born.