Summary

Woven Easter Palm are made by worshippers and taken to church on Palm Sunday. They are blessed during the Mass and then taken home. The following year on Ash Wednesday, the blessed palms are brought back to the church where they are burned to make the ashes for the celebration of Ash Wednesday. Palms are woven into different shapes according to regions, towns and villages. Olive tree branches replaced the palms in mountainous villages. This palm was woven by Sebastiano Giuliano in 1988. He used the heart of a palm tree and after weaving the frond, kept it covered with newspaper until dry to prevent extensive yellowing.Sebastiano migrated to Australia from the town of Solarino (Sicily) in the 1950s.

Physical Description

Woven from part of the central rib of a palm frond, two frond have been left free. The remaining fronds have been plaited into four separate panels of approximately the same length. There is a separate woven holderlike piece. This is square with a tassle-like decoration and appears to fit onto the bottom of the central rib.

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