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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.
“My granddaughter’s skin is Nyajarri. Nyajarri is a bush turkey and its blackfella name is Bingrrbal. We tell ‘em all the kids, this lot of animals, they got skin name and blackfella name. Well this one, he bin travelling with the emu, and this one, this bush turkey, he had been having too much bush tucker, and so he (she) said “No, I gotta camp here, it’s dark.”
Shirley talks about the Ngarrangarni (Dreaming) that relates to the bush turkey. The bush turkey was travelling with the emu, and they got loaded with food during a regular hunting trip, and the emu wanted to keep on going, but the bush turkey got tired and refused. The place that was loaded with this bush tucker is in present day Violet Valley.
This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.
This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.
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