Landmark Permanent Public Artwork Celebrating First Nations Women Commissioned for Circular Quay in Sydney
Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising)
Sydney, Australia: Announced today, a major new permanent public artwork by Dharawal and Yuin artist Alison Page, developed in consultation with Sydney coastal Aboriginal women, has been commissioned by Lendlease. The work will be unveiled outside of the Waldorf Astoria Sydney hotel at Circular Quay, the first of its kind in Australia.
Titled Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) the ambitious new 5.5m high cast bronze sculpture sees an Aboriginal woman rising powerfully from a body of water. Part woman and part whale, the figure represents the deep connection Aboriginal people have to Country and serves as an invitation for all women and all people to connect with her strength and resilience.
“Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) emerges from the water in the Tank stream below the city, a place of spiritual potency for my people – she is the mixing of the salt water and the fresh water, her energy and essence lives within the Aboriginal women of Sydney today - she is every black woman, every mother, daughter, sister, aunty, she is Country.”
Alison Page
Led by Alison Page, an award-winning First Nations creative at the forefront of the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art and design, the project has been developed in conversation with Curatorial and Cultural Advisors Rhoda Roberts AO as well as locally connected representatives and Traditional Owners of the Coastal Sydney region who have come together to form the new Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women's Group. The Group is made up of over 20 women including Rhonda Clark, Rene Campbell, Jacqueline Jarrett (Timbery), Denise Simon, Lavina Phillips, Rowena Welsh-Jarrett, Kowana Welsh, Dakota Dixon, Sara Campbell, Shaneah Jones, Keisha Davison, Angeline Penrith and Bronwyn Penrith. The naming of the work was in consultation with the Gujaga Foundation. Members of the Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group have been invited to be a part of the process, from the work's creation through to its ultimate unveiling, as it becomes a site of cultural pride immortalising First Nations women.
The work will be produced UAP and delivered by Lendlease and Mitsubishi Estate Asia in partnership with Fiveight and Hilton. The work aligns with Lendlease's larger commitment to placemaking and the City of Sydney, following other successful public art projects around the city including major installations by Ghost Net Collective and Sabine Hornig in Barangaroo, and a monumental work by architect David Adjaye and First Nations artist Daniel Boyd for Sydney Place.
About Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group: The development of Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) has served as a catalyst for the Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group; uniting this body of over 20 women for this project and as a stronghold of local Traditional Owners for the Coastal Sydney region.
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