Behind the scenes with Major Sumner

We worked with Major Sumner over six days on locations across Ngarrindjeri country, for two episodes of Everything is Connected, Ngarrindjeri wood carving and Ngarrindjeri dance.

Major Sumner at Camp Coorong museum. Photo Carl Kuddell, January 2016

During the wood carving shoot, Major Sumner shared shaping techniques and explained the intricate Ngarrindjeri designs he uses for ceremonial shields and clubs.

Laurie Rankine Jnr shoots Tal Kin Jeri performers at Murray Mouth. Photo Jen Lyons-Reid December 2015

We were able to catch the last light with Major and the dancers at the Murray Mouth on Kumerangk (Hindmarsh Island). They demonstrated several Ngarrindjeri dances, depicting some of their Ngartjis, their spirit animals.

Behind the scenes with Ellen Trevorrow

Ellen Trevorrow's episode for Everything Is Connected was shot in 2016 over two days. She was already working on the massive collaborative woven sculpture of Kondoli the Whale, with members of her family and wider Ngarrindjeri community.

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Ngarrindjeri weavers making Kondoli the Whale, 2015. Photo courtesy of the artist

Kondoli is over 4m long and at the tail 1.4m high and features in the 2017 exhibition. It was initially developed as a collaborative work for the Pacific Encounters project, with Flinders University and Le Havre's Museum for Natural History.

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Latoya Carter and friends weaving on Kondoli, 2015. Photo courtesy of the artist

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Bessie Rigney (right) and Cheyenne Carter weaving Kondoli, 2015. Photo courtesy of the artist

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Ellen Trevorrow's son, Bruce, build the metal frame of Kondoli. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Ellen Trevorrow and her team took us out on country near Narrung to collect rushes. The weavers, traditionally both women and men, now have to travel over 100 kilometers, as far as Strathalbyn on the other side of the Lower Lakes, to find suitable rushes, due to environmental degradation.

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Ellen Trevorrow and her team of weavers collecting rushes at Narrung. Photo Carl Kuddell, January 2016

Behind the scenes on We Are Water People

Change Media and Ngarrindjeri collaborated on a short web-documentary, as an engaging promotional tool for Ngarrindjeri and the Department of Water, the Environment and Natural Resources DEWNR, to showcase the significance of Ngarrindjeri science and cultural understanding of the Murray Mouth, the Murray River, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong.

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At the Murray River cliffs near Mannum. Photo Carl Kuddell, May 2016

We traveled with Ngarrindjeri, visiting locations significant for Ngarrindjeri cultural and caring for country practices , along the Murray River, the Lower Lakes, Coorong and the Murray Mouth, to highlight the spiritual connection between Ngarrindjeri and their lands and waters.

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Yarluwar Ruwe Taskforce at Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority. Photo Jen Lyons-Reid 2016

The documentary follows the narration script and storyboard developed by NRA, Change Media and DEWNR in late 2015, with a voice-over performed by Ngarrindjeri elder Ellen Trevorrow.

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DEWNR site visit at Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracing. Photo Jen Lyons-Reid, May 2016

The project also features one of the Ngarrindjeri nurseries, where their team is growing a wide range of native plants for revegetation work and their new wild eats business.

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Owen Love Jnr uses a gimbal rig at Blanchetown. Photo Jen Lyons-Reid 2016

Find out more about the project here.

Behind the scenes on We Are Ngarrindjeri

The project included eight collaborative workshops with Ngarrindjeri community members and their media team. The script for the video was developed with thw Ngarrindjeri Media Team over several months to identify the best way to represent Ngarrindjeri culture and ongoing connection to their lands and waters.

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Loading up at Hacks Point to cross the Coorong to get to the beach. Photo Carl Kuddell 2014

We shot over five days on six locations, in the Coorong, on the Murray River and at the Encounter coast around Pt. Elliot, Goolwa and Victor Harbor.

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Setting up at Hacks Point Beach. Photo Diane Bell, 2014

The result is an inspiring video featuring several generations of Ngarrindjeri, elders past and present, and the breadth of Ngarrindjeri culture, lands and water, heritage and other activities.

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Shooting at Raukkan with Ngarrindjeri rangers. Photo Jen Lyons-Reid

The final video was included into the award-winning web series Everything Is Connected. Ngarrindjeri are using the video to represent their culture, at events locally and globally, online and on ABC iView.

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Ellen Trevorrow and Debbie Rankine at Bonney's Reserve, Coorong. Photo Carl Kuddell 2014

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On the Murray River near Murray Bridge. Photo Carl Kuddell 2014

Find out more about the project here.

Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub artists exhibiting in 2017

The artists confirmed for the inaugural Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub exhibition June 2 to July 16, 2017, are:

Ellen Trevorrow and Ngarrindjeri weavers
Lyn Lovegrove Niemz
Betty Sumner
Major Sumner
Bluey Roberts
Jack Stengle
Damien Shen
Cedric Varcoe
Change Media and Ngarrindjeri Media team

 

Alexandrina Council commissions 3 Ngarrindjeri artists

The Alexandrina Council has commissioned three Ngarrindjeri artists, Ellen Trevorrow, Betty Sumner and Jacob Stengle, to create new work for the recently finished South Coast Aquatic Centre.

Ngurrunduri and Kondoli, 2016, by Karumapuli Jacob Stengle. Photo Johanis Lyons-Reid

The All-Seeing Eye, 2017, by Betty Sumner. Photo Carl Kuddell

Everything Is Connected, 2017, Nagrrindjeri woven mat, by Ellen Trevorrow. Photo Carl Kuddell

Ngarrindjeri Speaking for SeaCountry

During a series of meetings and workshops over the last year, the group of co-curators (Ngarrindjeri elders Ellen Trevorrow and Major Sumner, Change Media's artistic director Jen Lyons-Reid and creative producer Carl Kuddell, supported by Murray Bridge Regional Gallery director Melinda Rankin) have set the curatorial vision for the first Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub exhibition, planned for June-July 2017.

The show, titled 'Ngarrindjeri Yunnan Yarluwar Ruwe - Ngarrindjeri Speaking For Sea-Country', explores how Ngarrindjeri artists and culture workers envision their connection to country, to their lands and waters through their work. 

The team was keen to identify artists that represent a wide range of styles and art forms, ranging from painting, modern art, pottery to Ngarrindjeri weaving in new contexts.

Everything Is Connected screens on ABCiView

The first four episodes of our web series 'Everything Is Connected' is now screening on ABC iView. Congratulations to everyone involved. Please spread the word and let us know your feedback.

Stay tuned for updates on the Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub initiative.
 

Winner Melbourne International Web Fest 2016

Everything Is Connected, the first part of the web series featuring Ngarrindjeri artists, has been won the award for 'Best Australian non-fiction web series 2016' as part of the Official Selection of the International Melbourne WebFest 2016! We were also nominated for Best International Cinematography!!!

The series also was nominated for the 2016 SA Screen Awards and is screening on ABC iView. And we can now announce that we have received funding from the Australia Council for the Arts for a Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub, which will include another web series featuring Ngarrindjeri artists and cultural stories.

Big congrats to our team both at Ngarrindjeri and Change Media - and a huge thanks to everyone involved and our partners and friends for all your support!

Australia Council for the Arts funding

We have been successful with our submission for a Change Media and Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority partnership, to create and promote Ngarrindjeri arts via an innovative Culture Hub strategy - in collaboration with Ngarrindjeri artists and their communities across Ngarrindjeri country.

In this 1-year project, we will create multiform artworks for a curated exhibition, including digital artworks, to prominently showcase Ngarrindjeri art and culture online. We will collaborate withNgarrindjeri artists to create high quality artworks & co-create with their communities to establish the Ngarrindjeri Culture Hub. Our aim is to build cultural capital by connecting Ngarrindjeri artists, communities and a range of tourism and council stakeholders to new audiences, and place Ngarrindjeri culture, arts and language proudly on the map.

Arts SA funding

We have been successful with our submission to Arts SA Community Arts Organization funding. The project will connect audiences online and on site to Ngarrindjeri land, art & culture, fusing traditional and contemporary art practices in new and exciting forms, only possible from a truly dynamic, lived, Ngarrindjeri perspective.