Bidjigal

Badu Gili: Healing Spirit, illuminates the world-famous sails of the Sydney Opera House with a dynamic projection displaying the works of celebrated First Nations artists, the late Bidjigal elder Esme Timbery and two of her children, Marilyn Russell and Steven Russell, and artist Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami of the Yanomami people. Badu Gili: Healing Spirit will appear on the Opera House’s Eastern Bennelong sails five times a night from sunset.

The project marks the second year of a creative partnership between the Biennale of Sydney, the Sydney Opera House and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. The powerful projection of First Nations storytelling has been animated by Vandal with a soundscape by James Henry, bringing together Indigenous artists from Bidjigal (Australia) and Yanomami (the Amazon’s largest Indigenous group) for the first time on Australia’s most iconic canvas.

Inspired by shellwork crafted by Esme Timbery and Marilyn Russell, prints and weavings by Steven Russell, and Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami’s drawings of the spirits and landscapes of the remote Yanomami forest, the new six-minute digital animation explores rituals and the bonds of cultural and familial connection forged through art and storytelling.

Learn more about Badu Gili: Healing Spirit here

Bidjigal elder and senior artist Esme Timbery is recognised for her decorative shelled models and objects that range from depictions of Sydney attractions to small slippers, frames and boxes. Continuing the shellwork tradition associated with the Aboriginal community of the south-eastern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, Timbery’s works embody an enduring connection to Country, linking a long-established craft to the changing geography and cultural reality of contemporary Sydney.

Supported in partnership between the Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Opera House, and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.