PROMINENT Indigenous artist Sharyn Egan has curated an exhibition at Joondalup Art Gallery as part of the City of Joondalup’s Naidoc Week celebrations.
Egan is a Wadjuk Noongar woman who describes herself as a painter, sculptor and collector.
Her works are held in the collections of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology and the National Museum of Australia.
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READ NOWEgan is presenting Joondalup Boorungur – a specially commissioned exhibition that features two of the City’s works by Lindsay Harris and Sally Morgan, along with others by Tjyllyungoo Lance Chadd, Richard Walley and Egan herself.
Their works are being exhibited to share Noongar perspectives on the totemic relationships in the region.
Some of the works are on loan from ECU, which were created as part of the Vice Chancellor’s commission for Naidoc Week in 2015 in conjunction with Kurongkurl Katitjin.
Egan said Boorungur means both ‘spiritual elder brother’ and ‘blood brother relation’, identifying the strong connection Noongar culture has between place and belonging.
“Boorungur defines people’s roles and responsibilities and their relationships with each other and creation,” she said.
“The artworks in this exhibition speak of the stories of the artists, their families, their culture and their traditions.
“It is about artists living and working on Noongar country communicating the relationship to the land we are standing on today.
“Presenting these works to the public is an invitation to a dialogue between different cultures and different times.”
Joondalup Boorungur runs from July 2 to 27 from 10am to 2pm Tuesdays to Thursdays and 10.30am to 2.30pm on Fridays.
Joondalup Art Gallery is in Central Walk.
Naidoc Week runs from July 8 to 15 to celebrate Aboriginal people, cultures and communities and their contribution to modern Australia.
This year’s theme is ‘Because of her, we can!’ – a celebration of the contribution that Aboriginal women have made and continue to make to the community and the nation.