Installation view at Bundanon Museum, Courtesy Bundanon Museum
“bagan bariwariganyan: echoes of country” is a body of works by renowned Gweagal/Wandiwandian storyteller and artist Aunty Julie Freeman, leading Walbunja/Ngarigo artist Aunty Cheryl Davison, and Wiradyuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones.
The season upholds and maintains Aboriginal values and kinships, featuring an immersive gunyah (home) installation including drawings by the significant Yuin artist Mickey of Ulladulla, a solo exhibition of paintings by Aunty Julie sharing grandmother stories of local plants, animals and weather patterns, and a new installation by Aunty Cheryl Davison, representing the importance of Burrawang seeds, a key traditional food source.
Installation view at Bundanon Museum, Courtesy Bundanon Museum
Connected through new soundscapes designed for each gallery space, bagan bariwariganyan: echoes of country sings the stories of this place, celebrating local traditions and the ongoing collaboration of these three artists and cultural leaders.
Collectively the three artists have created a major installation consisting of a large-scale architectural gunyah structure made from Bundanon’s turpentine trees. Suspended from the gunyah, are screen-printed skyscapes depicting the locally significant Glossy Black-cockatoo creation story of Cambewarra Mountain by Aunty Cheryl Davison. Embracing the gunyah, an epic 75-metre mural byAunty Julie Freeman tracks the coastline from Sydney to Gippsland, and illustrates the significant bays, beaches, mountains and rivers that make up the South Coast cultural landscape that is Yuin country.
Installation view at Bundanon Museum, Courtesy Bundanon Museum
Included within this installation is the work of the significant nineteenth century Yuin artist Mickey of Ulladulla, connecting South Coast narratives from past to present, with works loaned from the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and the State Library of NSW. The installation envelops audiences and speaks to Aboriginal ways of understanding place, encouraging audiences to reimagine the South Coast of NSW.
The season will also include Aunty Julie’s first solo exhibition featuring a major suite of new paintings and cultural objects, sharing grandmother stories of the plants, animals and weather patterns from the escarpments, mountains and waterways of her country. Aunty Cheryl presents an installation of new woven and textile works, building on her research into Burrawang palm seeds, one of the South Coast’s key traditional food sources.
SOURCE: Bundanon Museum.