The Cutaway
Ngalawan – We Live, We Remain: The Call of Ngura (Country), 2022
blown glass and hebel base
Courtesy the artist
Made in collaboration with glass workers Ben and Kathy Edols
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Create NSW
Leanne Tobin is a multidisciplinary artist of Dharug heritage descending from the Buruberong and Wumali clans, the traditional custodians of the Greater Sydney region. Leanne works collaboratively with community groups, schools and institutions to tell local stories and care for Country. For the 23rd Biennale of Sydney Leanne Tobin shares a Dharug creation story of an Ancestral Creator, in the form of an eel/serpent that long ago created the rivers and mountains.
Tobin’s work is connected across two rivus locations, ACE Parramatta and The Cutaway Barangaroo, to invite audiences to physically follow and imagine the lifecycle of the eel. The material and reflections of hand blown-glass eels for The Call of Ngura reminds us of the ongoing fight the Dharug have endured since colonisation and the adaptive qualities of the eel. The strange and phenomenal eels, climb dams, creep across land and transform in preparation for their journey northwards to their spawning grounds in the coral sea. On their return to freshwater, the young transparent glass eels take on the colours of the river as they move between freshwater and saltwater. This metamorphosis alludes to historical and contemporary experience of Dharug people who faced horrific frontier conflict and disruption but have adapted and remained, ensuring their survival.
Information & Cultural Exchange
Ngalawan – We Live, We Remain: The Running of the Eels, 2022
moving image
2:00 mins
Courtesy the artist. Made in collaboration with Illuminart Australia, Ben and Kathy Edols, and Graeme Wienand.
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Create NSW
Tobin’s work is connected across two rivus locations, ACE Parramatta and The Cutaway Barangaroo, and invites audiences to physically follow and imagine the lifecycle of the eel. The Running of the Eels explores strange migratory journeys, animating hand-blown glass eels. Leanne Tobin says ‘Creation stories here tell of Gurrangatty, the Creator Ancestral figure in serpent/eel form, moving through this land, creating the rivers and mountains. Today, Gurrangatty’s descendants ‘Burra’, the long-finned eels, follow this songline, moving between freshwater and saltwater.’
Eels lay down, awaiting a king tide and full moon. The running of the eels was once a time of great ceremony. Tobin points to the present environmental horror we live in caused by overdevelopment and pollution of the riverways. What happens upstream affects those downstream.
Ngalawan – We Live, We Remain, 2022
participatory weaving work, lomandra, timber frame, mesh (TBC)
Courtesy the artist
Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Create NSW
Tobin’s work is connected across two rivus locations, ACE Parramatta and The Cutaway Barangaroo, to invite audiences to physically follow and imagine the lifecycle of the eel. The material and reflections of hand blown-glass eels for The Call of Ngura reminds us of the ongoing fight the Dharug have endured since colonisation and the adaptive qualities of the eel. The strange and phenomenal eels, climb dams, creep across land and transform in preparation for their journey northwards to their spawning grounds in the coral sea. On their return to freshwater, the young transparent glass eels take on the colours of the river as they move between freshwater and saltwater. This metamorphosis alludes to historical and contemporary experience of Dharug people who faced horrific frontier conflict and disruption but have adapted and remained, ensuring their survival.
