Gail Harradine
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi
7
August 2024
7
Aug
2024
7
Sep 2024
Opening 7 Aug, 6-8pm
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi
Gail Harradine
7
August 2024
7
August
2024
7
September 2024
Opening 7 Aug, 6-8pm
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi is an exhibition of new work, created by Gail during her residency at Seventh and the Women’s Art Register (WAR) in 2024. Gail’s research project embarked on a multi-layered journey beginning at the WAR archives, uncovering both the connectivity, but also, primarily, the dearth of archival information relating to Victorian First People’s women.
A passion for collecting material is an innate part of us in many ways, however delving into archives often reveals institutional biases and broader collecting focuses. This investigation is crucial for understanding what collecting signifies to diverse communities. It raises questions about legacy and its significance within singular projects like those at WAR. Often, First Peoples' women are not at the core of such collections, yet WAR's extensive material is invaluable for connection and recognition.
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi (Winter Sunrise) includes a variety of new works created by Gail during her residency, across printmaking, photography, craft, and archival material. The essence of the exhibition centres around making and creating despite the constraints of distance and time. It is about prodigious change, and working/living across locations, and the sights seen travelling such as the brolgas in the wetlands on the way to see family.
෴
Sunrise – each day can bring memories as the sun (ngauwi) rises over Mother Earth, with the memories of what has happened before, both unwanted and cherished, all contributing to the feeling of being alive and acknowledging what we have experienced. Sunrise can inspire as a brief but stunning sight. Sunrise can create a time to revisit feelings about grief and loss and the damage oppression and trauma inevitably does in seeping into our culture and ways. At the same time, it allows a time to heal and gather one’s thoughts and courage to work through the coming day. Sunrise is a time to refresh and recharge ready for trying again to achieve and create lasting change. I think about the impacts of linking into archival collections - down to photo-copied newspaper articles of First Peoples women artists that resonate, and all the visual prompts one sees in travelling through the day, and what blooms in one’s heart - whether it is ruby red colours, being visited by a black cockatoo, making women’s dance belts, carving out a lino for printing or thinking of a new way to photograph ways of seeing culture and self.
— Gail Harradine, 2024
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi is an exhibition of new work, created by Gail during her residency at Seventh and the Women’s Art Register (WAR) in 2024. Gail’s research project embarked on a multi-layered journey beginning at the WAR archives, uncovering both the connectivity, but also, primarily, the dearth of archival information relating to Victorian First People’s women.
A passion for collecting material is an innate part of us in many ways, however delving into archives often reveals institutional biases and broader collecting focuses. This investigation is crucial for understanding what collecting signifies to diverse communities. It raises questions about legacy and its significance within singular projects like those at WAR. Often, First Peoples' women are not at the core of such collections, yet WAR's extensive material is invaluable for connection and recognition.
Maiya Burnan Nyauwi (Winter Sunrise) includes a variety of new works created by Gail during her residency, across printmaking, photography, craft, and archival material. The essence of the exhibition centres around making and creating despite the constraints of distance and time. It is about prodigious change, and working/living across locations, and the sights seen travelling such as the brolgas in the wetlands on the way to see family.
෴
Sunrise – each day can bring memories as the sun (ngauwi) rises over Mother Earth, with the memories of what has happened before, both unwanted and cherished, all contributing to the feeling of being alive and acknowledging what we have experienced. Sunrise can inspire as a brief but stunning sight. Sunrise can create a time to revisit feelings about grief and loss and the damage oppression and trauma inevitably does in seeping into our culture and ways. At the same time, it allows a time to heal and gather one’s thoughts and courage to work through the coming day. Sunrise is a time to refresh and recharge ready for trying again to achieve and create lasting change. I think about the impacts of linking into archival collections - down to photo-copied newspaper articles of First Peoples women artists that resonate, and all the visual prompts one sees in travelling through the day, and what blooms in one’s heart - whether it is ruby red colours, being visited by a black cockatoo, making women’s dance belts, carving out a lino for printing or thinking of a new way to photograph ways of seeing culture and self.
— Gail Harradine, 2024
Gail Harradine
Gail Harradine is a Wotjobaluk, Jadawadjali, Djubagalk artist, curator, and educator. Growing up in Dimboola, Victoria, Gail was nurtured by a staunch family in the heart of Wotjobaluk Country. She has completed eight years of study, including a Postgraduate in Art Curatorial Studies (with Thesis) at Melbourne University and a Master of Arts (Arts Management) with Distinction in 2022 at RMIT.
Gail's longstanding arts practice is deeply influenced by family history, identity, kinship, and connection. She is passionate about expanding and reflecting on the concepts of truth and integrity in valuing cultural knowledge. In her work, meaning and memory converge through photography, prints, and painting, using symbolic layers intertwined with dynamic figures and ceremonial landscapes. This creates a world that merges Creation Stories with personal tragedy and triumph.