The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre
An innovative multi-arts hub in the heart of Blacktown City.
Bayadyinyang budyari Dharug yiyura Dharug Ngurra.
Bayady’u budyari Dharug Warunggadgu baranyiin barribugu.
Bayady’u budyari wagulgu yiyuragu Ngurra bimalgu Blacktown City. Flannel flowers dyurali bulbuwul.
Yanmannyang mudayi Dharug Ngurrawa. Walama ngyini budbud dali Dharug Ngurra Dharug yiyura baranyiin barribugu.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this Land, the Dharug people, and their continued connection to Country.
We pay our respects to Elders from yesterday to tomorrow.
We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Blacktown City where the flannel flowers still grow proud and strong.
We will walk softly on this land and open our hearts to Country as the Dharug people have for tens of thousands of years.
Credit to: Dharug woman Rhiannon Wright, daughter of Leanne ‘Mulgo’ Watson Redpath and granddaughter of Aunty Edna Watson
Djiriyay and Révolution is Baramadagal woman Jayne Christian’s first solo exhibition. Featuring woven pieces made in collaboration with her mother, aunts and cousins, alongside photographs by Serge D’ignazio, the exhibition examines the relationship between protest and Indigenous cultural practices. For thousands of years First Nations people have used the land and grasses around them to create a rich history of weaving. Crafted as a tool of hunting and gathering, the cultural practice has shifted in recent centuries to also be another form of storytelling and resistance.
After completing a three-month residency at the Cite International Des Arts in Paris through the Galang Residency, supported by Powerhouse Parramatta, Jayne became interested in the region’s history of protest and activism, and saw reflections in her own First Nations history.
This connection is seen throughout the woven works in the show that were made both on residency in Paris and in Jayne’s hometown Wagga Wagga NSW, and also in the title:
Djiriyay is a Dharug war cry and Révolution a French word for a forcible throwover of government.
Djiriyay and Révolution celebrates the freedom to protest and the importance of cultural practices and activism.
This event has ended.
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Jayne Christian is a Baramadagal woman through the Reid/Goldspink family belonging to the Dharug-speaking peoples. Jayne chairs the Parramatta City Council First Nations Advisory Group and is an advisor with the Treaty Council. Jayne has practiced as a social justice lawyer for ten years, with a focus on working with Aboriginal communities across NSW.
Jayne belongs to the weaving communities in Wagga Wagga and western Sydney, is a member of the Parramatta Weaving Garden Collective and practices traditional and contemporary styles of weaving and dyeing.
This project is presented by Blacktown Arts and supported by Blacktown City Council and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
Selected activities proudly supported by the NSW Government through Culture Up Late Western Sydney.