Image Copyright Lynette Riley 2012. Image courtesy Macleay Museum.
Artist Lynette Riley discusses her journey in researching and making the kangaroo and possum skin cloaks as well as selected other works in ochre included in the exhibition, Dhaga Ngiyanhi Ngan.Girra (Where we all meet) at the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney.
The exhibition is the result of the creative partnership between two sisters, Lynette Riley and Diane Riley-McNaboe. Their Wiradjuri/Gamilaroi heritage is anchored in their birth-place, Dubbo, in western NSW, and the meeting spaces of this Country. Dhanga Ngiyanhi Ngan.Girra is Wiradjuri for ‘where we all meet’. This title celebrates the meeting place at the junction of the Macquarie and Talbragar rivers.
Cloaks were good protection from the cold and wet, but they were also about ceremony. The underside of the pelt would be incised with various designs to indicate the person’s Moiety and Totemic connection as well as their journey through life and as such would provide information on that person’s status within Nations and across Clan Groups. The revitalisation and re-production of these Cloaks is seen as an essential tool to re-claiming traditions thought lost and as a way to re-affirm cultural identity.
When: 6pm – 7 pm, Wednesday 3 June 2015
Where: Macleay Museum, University of Sydney
Cost: Free
Register online
Contact: phone 9036 5253 or email macleay.museum@sydney.edu.au
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