On the 12 June this year (2024), I was the keynote speaker at the Place Branding Australia Conference held in Sydney as part of Vivid Festival. I was honoured to be amongst an amazing line up of speakers and to be talking about many projects close to my heart, but particularly Wellama at Barangaroo.
The best part about making this installation was working with my family and learning about how my ancestors were living around Sydney Harbour when the First Fleet arrived – and really tapping into that history.
I always joke that as Australians, we all buy into the boating, camping, fishing lifestyle – and that was how my people were living 5,000 years ago. Living in these beautiful temperate climates, in this amazing landscape, really engaging with sea country in the saltwater lifestyle. It was a good life.
I also participated in a panel session about weaving Indigenous stories through the narrative of a place. It felt like it’s part of the Zeitgeist where a lot of people are looking back to these more enduring stories, the traditions, the rituals of First Peoples. Perhaps in this fleeting, accelerated world, maybe we’re all trying to hang on to something like that.
This article ran in the Government News 3 June issue.
I acknowledge the Gumbaynggirr people on whose land I live and work. Sovereignty was never ceded.
