Baaka ngamaka’inana: The River, our Mother
an exhibition at Gallery 76
NSW Embroiderers' guild
August 31 - October 21
I'm proud to be one of three artists involved in an exhibition called
Baaka Ngamaka’Inana: The River, Our Mother, along with sculptor and printmaker Badger Bates, a Baakantji elder who grew up on the Baaka-Darling River, and Judith Burns, an academic geographer and stitcher.
All three of us have created work that speaks to the ecological devastation inflicted on the Baaka-Darling by neglect and maladministration.
The Baaka-Darling River is in a sorry state. For years now, too much water has been taken from the river for irrigation.
The Murray Darling Basin Authority has always put Big Ag before people and the environment. The cotton industry is one of the biggest offenders.
Photo: Graeme McCrabb
The NSW Government commissioned an independent review into the fish kills. Reduced flows, high temperatures and poor water quality were all found to be contributing factors to creating low oxygen in the water, which is what caused the shocking mass fish kills that made news all around the world.
Yabbies crawled out of the river en masse. Fish in their millions suffocated and floated to the surface, particularly around Menindee Lakes. 20 - 30 million fish in mid-March 2023!
The numbers are mind-blowing. The images are heart-breaking.
Despite the recommendations of the independent review, the legislation, and the clear advice of scientists, the Murray Darling Basin Authority continues to take too much water from the river.
Scientists tell us that if this continues, there will be more fish kills. And it will inevitably kill the Baaka-Darling River.
All three of us artists are using our artworks to tell stories of the Baaka-Darling to bring to the attention of the public and the government that the management of the waterways desperately needs to change.
One piece I have made for this show is a stencil-printed alternative river - a vision of what the Baaka would be like under a sustainable River Plan, where people respect the needs of the river, the creatures that live in and around it, and the ecosystems that depend on it. That's what we need.
And the second artwork is a collaboration - hopefully with you...
menindee memorial loop
a collaborative art project
I'd love for you to help me create a collaborative artwork
in memory of the fish who died in the terrible Menindee fish kills of 2018-19 and 2023
The plan is to make a long loop of fabric covered in thousands of tiny stitched crosses, representing the millions of fish killed because of over-allocation of water for irrigation. That's a tonne of stitching - which is why I'm asking for you to help out.
I promise it will be easy and satisfying to contribute to this collaborative artwork, and it doesn't matter where you are in the world - everyone can get involved.
The more people who take part, the greater the impact.
And it's impact that we want.
Here's what i'm asking you to do - step-by-step...
Find a small piece of woven cotton - about the size of a postcard, give or take. Maybe a scrap from an old shirt or tea towel - something you already have around your place. Thin and faded is good, and not too brightly coloured. Plain ideally, or a very faded pattern would be OK.
It's important that it's specifically cotton because our artwork is drawing attention to the role of the cotton industry in making the river sick. I won't be able to use T-shirt material either, even if it is cotton. Sorry to be so prescriptive, but this is what we need for this artwork.
Once you have your fabric piece, using thickish thread in any single colour, stitch one hundred crosses onto the cotton fabric scrap. This will probably take you about twenty minutes.
Don't make it all regular and uniform - I want you to stitch in a way that's irregular and organic. The idea is that your crosses look kind of like a natural shoal of native fish, like the Gold and Silver Perch or Bony Bream or Eel-Tailed Catfish that should be thriving in the Baaka.
Then I’ll get you to send me the stitched scrap in the post. Because so many people are keen to take part in this ongoing collaborative project, I'm extending the deadline. You've now got until the end of October to send your 100 crosses scrap to me.
Address it to:
Julie Paterson
Dharug and Gundungurra Country
325 Evans Lookout Road
Blackheath NSW 2785
When I have received your pieces I'll start stitching them into the fabric length for the loop, which will be hung unfinished in the Baaka Ngamaka’Inana: The River, Our Mother exhibition.
Visitors to the gallery will be invited to continue stitching the crosses and the scraps onto the fabric loop, letting it grow over the two months the exhibition is on.
It is already very moving, watching the looped river of fabric fill with shoals of your little fish. And adding our voices to all the others who speak for the River is going to feel good.
I hope you'll join me.
Acknowledgement of Country
I acknowledge the Dharug and the Gundungurra people, the Traditional Owners of the land where I created this work, and the Wangal people of Eora, the Traditional Owners of the land where this exhibition is shown.
I recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community.
I pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.