Darrell Sibosado

Born 1966 in Marapikurrinya (Port Hedland), Australia
Lives and works in Lombadina, Australia
Bard people

White Bay Power Station

Galalan at Gumiri, 2023
LED light installation
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
Courtesy the artist and N.Smith Gallery, Sydney

Riji, or pearl shell designs, have been passed down through generations of the Bard people. Traditionally, riji are etched onto the shell and worn by men as ceremonial pubic coverings. Believed to be the glistening scales shed by Aalingoon, the Rainbow Snake, when he rests on the ocean’s surface, riji embody deep cultural knowledge and lore.

Darrell Sibosado, a Bard man from the Lombadina community on the Kimberley coast, reinterprets these traditional designs as ancestral symbols, crafting them in contemporary glowing neon. By magnifying the shells’ natural luminescence, Sibosado’s artwork stands as a powerful testament to the enduring and ever-relevant vibrancy of Aboriginal traditions.

Re-illuminating the long-dormant White Bay Power Station for the first time in 40 years, Sibosado’s installation presents Indigenous knowledge and technology as one of the most resilient forces in this country.

Darrell Sibosado is a Bard man from Lombadina, situated on the Dampier Peninsula of the Kimberley coast, Western Australia. His practice explores the innovative potential of the riji (pearl shell) designs within a contemporary context. Passed down over countless generations, the designs represent the detached scales of Aalingoon, the Rainbow Snake, as he rests on the ocean surface, shedding his scales containing traditional knowledge and beliefs.

Through his printmaking and installations, Sibosado reflects on traditional Bard lore and is intent on reiterating that Aboriginal culture is a living, adaptive culture that undeniably commands a presence in the contemporary space.

Read more about the 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, by purchasing the catalogue here.