Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition
Published on 13 December 2024
Ancestral woven objects stand alongside newly commissioned contemporary works.
Grafton Regional Gallery: 21 December 2024 – 9 February 2025
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition is a momentous homecoming of ancestral heritage, touring Bundjalung lands in the Northern Rivers NSW in 2024 and 2025. This reclamation project, presented by Arts Northern Rivers and curated by Kylie Caldwell, unites three major regional galleries - Grafton, Lismore and Tweed.
For the first time, nine ancestral woven objects, held in the Australian Museum collection will return to Country for the exhibition. These historic pieces will stand alongside ten newly commissioned works by contemporary Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, and Kamilaroi (Gamilaroi) artists, who have drawn from their great grandmothers' wisdom to breathe new life into ancient weaving traditions. Elders and weavers include: Bindimu, Casino Wake Up Time, Janelle Duncan, Madeleine Grace, Lauren Jarrett, Tania Marlowe, Bianca Monaghan, Krystal Randall, Rhoda Roberts AO, Kyra Togo and Margaret Torrens.
Exhibition Curator and artist Kylie Caldwell said “Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition is a unique showcase of ancient and contemporary women's woven practices. Each weaver's story is interconnected in one way or another. They all have a strong appreciation and respect for renewing and continuing our ancient woven cultural practices. We are fortunate with this exhibition to share a union as such, the past with the present that leads to tomorrow. Nine of our timeless, intricately woven Bundjalung ancestral bags will be featured alongside weavers' new works. The Bundjalung bags will be home for a while; conversing, sharing, informing, inspiring, affirming and connecting to their homelands. This is an exciting homecoming, one that weaves our history into the present.”
Dr Mariko Smith, Head of First Nations Collections & Research, First Nations Division, Australian Museum said “Australian Museum is thrilled to support Bundjalung women in reconnecting with Ancestral objects from our collection. Lending these exquisite woven pieces for the touring exhibition Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali is deeply significant. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Arts Northern Rivers and the Bundjalung community on this important initiative.”
“The BBNE is a highlight of Grafton Region Gallery’s 2025 exhibition program,” says Sarah Gurich, Director, Grafton Regional Gallery. “In a unique touring model, the BBNE will travel to the three regional public galleries on Bundjalung Country (Grafton, Lismore, and Tweed), bringing together traditional ancestral baskets and contemporary fibre work to celebrate, reclaim, and strengthen knowledge of traditional weaving practices.”
The contemporary woven works in the exhibition include ‘Dili’ by artist Bindimu a Bundjalung, Gugu Yalanji, Gooreng Gooreng, Melanesian woman and a multidisciplinary artist and curator. “The process of weaving a dili begins with the plants and the place, a conscious and cautious collection. This dili embodies the sacredness of this embryonic relationship, a process that intricately weaves together multiple ecosystems.”
Bundjalung artist, weaver and elder Margaret Torrens is the longest standing member of Casino Wake Up Time, a collective of Bundjalung and Kamilaroi women who have been meeting and weaving for over ten years, first established by her mother Phyllis Caldwell. Margaret’s adorned work ‘Place of Tall Pines’, made of Bangalow palm sheaths and white ochre, refers to Mallanganee, ‘Place of Tall Pines’, where Maragaret’s mother grew up. While short in stature, Aunty Phyllis stood tall, raising a family of fourteen. Margaret celebrates her mother's story and the memories of growing up in Mallanganee, in a small shanty hut near the creek where they spent most of the summer swimming. Also included in the exhibition is the work ‘Slumber Party 2022’ by Casino Wake Up Time commissioned by the 23rd Biennale of Sydney and Create Australia.
Bundjalung/Yaegl artist Krystal Randall process has been focussed on Woven Cultural wear. Her work ‘Dyinda on Country’ uses raffia, emu feathers and paper cortege. “These pieces I’ve created represent Matriarchs on Country. I have envisioned Matriarchs wearing these pieces in special ceremonies, dancing and taking the younger generation out on country to gather pieces and to show them how to weave and make their own cultural wear.”
Arts and cultural leader Rhoda Roberts AO is a practicing weaver as well as festival director, curator, writer, performer and broadcaster. Rhoda Roberts together with exhibition curator Kylie Caldwell, wrote and compiled the stunning book ‘Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali … we weave together’ preserving weaving practices of Bundjalung women, and was a catalyst for the touring exhibition. Rhoda’s work in the exhibition ‘Continuous Persistence’ is made of Lomandra grass harvested on country. “Weaving is more than art, it’s an essence of the circular rhythm, that can be continuous and has been crafted from the provisions of country. We have returned full circle, to the old ways where once our grandmothers gathered, under the trees, weaving, as I lie back with our children, we are reminded under the dappled shade that every leaf, and every star is an ancestor.”
Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali Exhibition and book is a community-informed development project that seeks to share and retell the history of First Nation weaving artistry. The exhibition is a culmination and compilation of diverse interwoven stories that, at its core, celebrate and pay homage to ancient culture. It is an ongoing part of the reclamation of age-old women's weaving knowledge and practices that will be shared across three Regional Galleries.
This touring exhibition is presented by Arts Northern Rivers in partnership with Grafton Regional Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, and Lismore Regional Gallery. This project was made possible by the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Program, the NSW Government through Create NSW, the Dobell Exhibition Grant Program, funded by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and managed by Museums & Galleries of NSW, and the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund.
Image credit: from Bulaan Buruugaa Ngali publication by Arts Northern Rivers. Photo Kate Holmes.