Alison Wel’s village is situated in a mountainous part of Simbu Province in Papua New Guinea. Due to its remote location, the village has been the last in the region to benefit from roads and development. Consequently, the Yuri tribe, to which the artist belongs, is often treated poorly by neighbouring tribes. 

Members of the Yuri are often called ‘white horses’, as they are known for walking the long distance between their mountain home and the town of Kundiawa with big white bags of produce to sell at the markets. Wel has knotted this derogatory term as a banner across her textile work, which depicts her mountain home. Rather than the bright colours typically associated with handcrafted Papua New Guinean bilum bags, the artist has used subdued colours of dark green, brown, grey and black to highlight this dark aspect of Simbu culture.