Through the Blacktown Native Institution Project, The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Blacktown Arts present ‘Ngara – Ngurangwa Byallara (Listen, hear, think – The Place Speaks)’, an arts initiative acknowledging the symbolic Aboriginal site in Sydney’s western suburbs – the former home of Blacktown Native Institution. Established in 1823, the residential school is one of the earliest known examples of institutional removal of Aboriginal children from their families.
In collaboration with local communities, Indigenous artists Tony Albert, Sharyn Egan and Moogahlin Performing Arts, created new works that celebrate the continuum of Aboriginal culture – in particular the Darug peoples – and honour the place as a living memorial to Australia’s Stolen Generations. To be revealed at a free public event on Saturday 9 June, from 4-8pm.
Tony Albert is working with a group of Blacktown young people to create Gubangala Gumadangyiningi (Let’s honour his/her spirit), an artwork that reaches across time to share positive memories and create a new future for the site.
Working with Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation and local weavers, Sharyn Egan is creating seven large-scale flannel flowers as a memorial to the Institution’s residents.
Moogahlin Performing Arts are working with elders and local dance groups to create manuwi jam ya murong (footprints in the sand), a multi-faceted performance installation honouring local customs and growing up Aboriginal in Western Sydney.