Wakulda: Weaving our Stories as One
YEAR
SERVICES
Research
Engagement
Heritage Interpretation
Technical Installation
Audio-visual Production
2021
CLIENT
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (Birpai Country)
DESCRIPTION
A digital interpretation artwork commissioned by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to mark the Bicentenary of Port Macquarie's founding as a penal colony.
Working collaboratively with proud Birpai Dunghutti knowledge keeper Aunty Rhonda, Studio ESEM (formerly Esem Projects) led the creation of Wakulda as a space in which many different perspectives on place could be interwoven and shared with the community.
This piece needed to recognise the Bicentenary as a time of grieving and truth telling for Birpai people. Birpai are people who have lived in these lands for tens of thousands of years, for whom European arrival and settlement was a time of dispossession and violence. With support from Council, Wakulda became a very prominent piece through which past wrongs against Aboriginal people were acknowledged. In this way, Bicentenary commemorations were a time for Birpai voices to be heard in the context of truth-telling and looking ahead at what a better future could entail.
Wakulda has been screened as a public projection on the Old Courthouse Building from April 2021. Supported by Port Macquarie Hastings Council.
Working with a number of Aboriginal community members and local storytellers, Esem worked as a team to shape a visually impactful and enlivening piece that invited the community of Port Macquarie-Hastings to share the stories of the region and look forward to a more inclusive future, in which connection to landscape, stories of belonging and natural resources can be celebrated and protected.
We also worked with over thirty First Nations participants in the making of this artwork. Particular thanks to Aunty Rhonda, Dr. John Heath, Uncle Bill, Trish McInerney, participants of the weaving workshop and the Ngarrgan Mirrilyn Choir. With thanks to the communities of Port Macquarie for entrusting us with this powerful story.
AUNTY RHONDA (Birpai Dunghutti)
NGARRGAN-MIRRIIYN CHOIR
AUNTY RHONDA RHADLEYWEAVING ANIMATION
WEAVING WORKSHOPWEAVING ANIMATION
FILMING AT PORT MACQUARIE SKATE PARK
FILMING AT PORT MACQUARIE SKATE PARK
CONVERSATION WITH SENIOR BIRPAI GOORI, DR. JOHN HEATH AND PROJECT LEAD, DR. SARAH BARNS. ELEMENTS OF THE CONVERSATION WERE INCORPORATED INTO THE FINAL ARTWORK. 
PROJECTIONS ON PORT MACQAURIE COURTHOUSE FROM 2021-2025