Janjari – a Butchulla word for spirit guardian – is Fiona Foley’s depiction of the raw and varied landscape found on K’gari (Fraser Island). In this video work, Foley uses her signature tension between a haunted past, contemplation of solitude, and moments of joy and humour to flip the ethnographic lens of colonial myth making. Deeply rooted in her Badtjala ancestral connection to K’gari, Janjari references the Yindingie (carpet snake) who formed the landscape of Butchulla Country, while capturing performers in nineteenth century traditional costume reclaiming their land.

Fiona Foley, Janjari (still). Courtesy the artist and Hervey Bay Regional Gallery
Hervey Bay Regional Gallery
10 December 2022 to 1 October 2023
Queensland