Ngiyanggarang: Beginning a conversation in the morning to awaken others
Links Gallery, Wagga Art Gallery
Saturday 28 July – Sunday 16 September 2018
Official launch Saturday 11 August 1pm
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this exhibition contains images and voices of people who have passed.
This exhibition is a celebration of stories featuring the perspectives of senior Elders from two prominent Wiradjuri families, the Grants and the Ingrams. Each with the unique perspective of their individual experience, Wiradjuri Elders, Uncle Jimmy Ingram, Aunty Flo Grant, Dr. Uncle Stan Grant Sr. AM, and Gamilaroi Elder Aunty Betty Grant (nee Cameron), present their unique stories in collaboration with illustrator and researcher Bernard Sullivan, in conjunction with Burambabili Gulbali and Charles Sturt University.
“Culture is personal.”
Uncle Jimmy Ingram and Aunty Flo Grant
Working from the idea that when we know our stories we know who we are, these Elders present an understanding of life that permeates the land we now know as the Riverina. The stories help us all, Aboriginal and non Aboriginal, comprehend the dynamic, transformed but unbroken continuity of the life of the Wiradjuri people who have lived here for millennia.
These newly documented stories take many forms. They may be traditional, talking about life before European settlement, they may document the crisis that occurred post settlement, and they may tell the stories of resilience and the persistence of cultural values through the twentieth century to the present.
Many of the stories describe how to be strong and live a good life, and have valuable life lessons about choosing the right way to live, connection to family and country, the example of the Elders, and following your dreams.
