The Balnaves Foundation is pleased to announce a new grant supporting Gadigal artist Konstantina (Kate Constantine), with a project entitled Gadigal: Yilabara Wala (Gadigal: Now and Then). With the support of Gadigal Elders, this project aims to bring to life the stories, artworks and traditional adornment of the Gadigal people by reclaiming the making practices through study of the objects in the British Museum archives, to which Konstantina has been granted unprecedented access.
Julie Adams, Head of Oceania at the British Museum said ‘The British Museum is pleased to be working with Konstantina, supporting her inspiring research and connecting collections to communities’.
Konstantina will be travelling to the UK between 2024 and late 2025, visiting the British Museum in order to study the Gadigal artefacts held in the museum archives. The study of these objects will enable the artist to make new objects with the techniques used to make these historical items. She will also interview Elders, and consult with Australian museums, archives and research institutions to identify connections between the items in the British Museum’s archives, Aboriginal oral histories and colonial histories. Konstantina will be supported on this project by Gadigal Elder Uncle Charles Davison who will offer guidance on Cultural practice and protocol.
Konstantina, whose practice is informed by the reclamation of Culture and language, said “We are, as my dear Elders often say in their Welcome to Country, the luckiest mob as we have custodianship over the most beautiful and glorious harbour in the world. We owe it to this wondrous Country and all her people to reclaim our making practices for the benefit of all who call Sydney home. I couldn’t be more excited to join my Elders and kin at The British Museum in October and begin the process of rewiring our Cultural code into our narrative.”
A key part of the project will be a photographic diary of the exploration in the British Museum’s archives, cataloguing of the objects and the craftmanship in creating these cultural treasures. This will culminate in exhibitions in London and Wales and the publication of a new book, with the possibility of also bringing an exhibition to Sydney.
Konstantina and Uncle Charles Davison will be among the first Gadigal people to see these objects since colonisation, with some artefacts having been in the Museum’s collection since Cook’s voyages. The opportunity to study these objects and document them through a cultural lens will reclaim lost practices and history, offering a bridge across generations of Gadigal people and Culture.
Gadigal Elder Uncle Charles Davison said “It will be a privilege to be involved with this project and to have the opportunity to increase my knowledge and connection, exploring revitalisation contact with objects, collections, and their research. This process will enable an informed sharing to individuals and communities in relation to re-engagement with objects that have sat in a state of cavernous sleep, far away from Country and her Culture. Participation in the project will allow for increased capacity to process cultural trauma in relation to intergenerational denial of truth telling, correcting historical inaccuracies and allowing healing through decolonising the existing dominant colonial narrative.”
This project is being supported by The Balnaves Foundation through an auspice arrangement with The University of Sydney. First Nations people in Australia have suffered from centuries of dispossession, separating them from precious cultural artefacts that are a crucial link to Culture, Country and practice. The Gadigal: Yilabara Wala project is a vital step towards reclaiming these objects and practices and reconnecting with heritage. The Balnaves Foundation is proud to support the reclaiming of this knowledge for the Gadigal people helping to ensure this learning is passed onto future generations.
Image (Cover): Artist Konstantina in the main hall of the British Museum, London.
Image (Below): Konstanina examining objects in the British Museum Archives.
Images courtesy of the Artist.
