Curator walkthrough of WILAM BIIK
Curator Stacie Piper walks through WILAM BIIK, a significant First Nations exhibition
WILAM BIIK is an exhibition of cultural consciousness and knowledge, of an unsevered connection between First Peoples of South East Australia and their Country, over thousands of generations.
Header image: Installation view, WILAM BIIK, TarraWarra Museum f Art, 2021. Works by Djirri Djirri Wurundjeri Women’s Dance Group, Kim Wandin, and Lewis Wandin-Bursil with loans from Museums Victoria Collection and wallpaper image of the Birrarung by Lynton Crabb. Courtesy of the artists and Museums Victoria. Photo by Andrew Curtis.
Filmed by James Wright at TarraWarra Museum of Art in October 2021, on Wurundjeri Country.
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Ochre in Art
Ochre is central to the work of WILAM BIIK artist Deanne Gilson (Wadawurrung). The natural pigment brings dynamic warmth to her paintings, connects her to Country and provides her with a resource to sustain her art practice. Sustainable art resource Deanne gathers ochre from her Ancestral place of Wadawurrung Country, and prepares it herself. “The journey creating is just as fun as the painting.” She said ochre has given her the freedom […]
Songlines
Discover how songlines are woven through WILAM BIIK as First Nations Curator Stacie Piper shares what songlines mean to her and explains how these Ancestral routes informed her curatorial work for WILAM BIIK. WILAM BIIK is an exhibition of cultural consciousness and knowledge, of an unsevered connection between First Peoples of South East Australia and their […]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at TarraWarra Museum of Art
The First Peoples of Australia are the oldest continuing culture in the world—over 60,000 years—and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists comprise a significant proportion of our artmaking community. Working in a wide variety of forms and media, their works often convey a range of responses that reflect their abiding connection to Country; their Ancestral […]
Crediting works to Liwik (Ancestor)
First Nations Curator Stacie Piper discusses the inclusion of Liwik in WILAM BIIK For WILAM BIIK, curator Stacie Piper chose to refer to some works as ancestral tools and adornments, and credit the maker as Liwik (Woiwurrung word for Ancestor), rather than using the Western museum terminology of artefacts or objects by maker ‘Unknown’. WILAM […]
First Nations map of language groups
Discover the diverse languages and home Countries of WILAM BIIK artists First Nations Curator Stacie Piper explains how language groups and home Countries informed her curatorship for WILAM BIIK: “When it came to curating this exhibition I decided there was only one place to start — with Country, the story of Home. I have always […]
Kelp in Art
“Kelp is my sanity and my strength.” – Nannette Shaw The importance of kelp to WILAM BIIK artist Nannette Shaw can’t be understated. It underpins her artwork, her connection to Country, her life. “Working with kelp centres me, connects me to my Ancestors, lifts my Spirit and just makes me feel good. When I looked […]