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“This old lady, when she burn that fire stick, and shows it to this new moon, to give us all the fat for everything. Like fish, yam, potato, sugarbag, turkey, fish and kangaroo.”
Mooloonggoogallem is a Gija tradition, where people wish upon a new moon to get big, fat, juicy bush tucker. This tradition was passed onto Shirley from her mother, but it is an age-old Gija tradition, which people still practise today. When a new or crescent moon appears, Shirley teaches her young family, such as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to light sticks and to ‘goorrara’ or ‘wish him (the moon)’ for all the fat juicy things they’d like to eat.
This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.
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