ngadhu minya wanggaga/ngayalu dyugudyugu wangga, 2022

Black and white text on clear polycarbonate

297 x 420 x 0.15 cm each

 

This work was developed on Kaurna Country

 

Location: DB4-22

 

​

ngadhu minya wanggaga/ngayalu dyugudyugu wangga invites the audience to be immersed in the reclamation of ancestral languages through a contemporary audio and distorted visual installation of the Gugada and Wirangu languages located on the Far West Coast of South Australia.

​

The contemporary text-based form of language within this installation is a response to the complexities of learning language visually, and the lack of resources available. This has been addressed through the multilayering of words in Gugada and Wirangu, having the same understanding in English. Including both the Gugada and Wirangu language creates an understanding of the differences in language between two neighbouring tribes, dismantling colonial discourses that surround Aboriginal languages. The smaller cluster within this installation represents early understandings of my ancestral language, transitioning into a larger cluster to represent a growing understanding of language.

 

Including oral language in both Gugada and Wirangu plays an important aspect in the installation as oral histories and oral learning of language is key in understanding the phonetics of Aboriginal spelling systems, which cannot happen visually.
 

ngadhu minya wanggaga/ngayalu dyugudyugu wangga is a documentation of cultural grounding, and an act of affirming sovereignty.