The team behind Gabrugal Yana

The idea for Gabrugal Yana came from an arts and culture accelerator program run by Western Sydney Parklands. Artists of various cultural backgrounds, including First Nations artists and artists from western Sydney, came together, camped on Country and created lots of wonderful ideas on how to share stories and create experiences for people using the parklands. 

The original concepts for Gabrugal Yana were developed by First Nations artists Djon Mundine OAM and Shay Tobin. The Dharug naming process was conducted with the artists and a group of local knowledge holders and cultural advisors, led and managed by Indigenous design and strategy agency, Balarinji.  

Presentations were made to a number of stakeholders including Liverpool City Council throughout the process and additional Dharug cultural advisors and artists were intricately involved in both the design, tree location, story-telling and language, and interpretive signage content. 

Other Aboriginal artists involved in fabrication include carver Jamie Eastwood and weavers Corina Wayali Gili Norman and Venessa Dyubi Gili Possum. 

It has been a beautiful experience where artists and carvers have worked on Country for months to share their culture with the broader community. 

Djon Mundine OAM is a proud Bandjalung man from the NSW Northern Rivers. He is a curator, writer, artist and activist and is celebrated as a foundational figure in the criticism and exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art. Djon has held many senior curatorial positions in both national and international institutions, and was the concept curator of the 1988 Aboriginal Memorial, permanently on display at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra. He has also worked with the National Museum of Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Campbelltown Art Centre, among others. 

Shay lives as an artist and student whose motivation for mathematics through environment and nature merges with his inspiration towards his art. Growing up as a member of the Boorooberongal clan of the Dharug Nation of Western Sydney, in a family of artists, his art practice is influenced in subtle ways by the connection to land, family and what it means to be living in Australia today. Shay has acquired a deep fascination for mathematics and together with a lifelong passion for the natural world, is motivated to pursue a life as an artist and mathematician. 

Erin Wilkins is a Dharug and Wiradjuri woman. Erin works as an Aboriginal Cultural Educator, consultant and facilitator/trainer. As well as assisting with naming and other cultural information, Erin has provided us with the audio for the walk where local Dharug dalang (language) can be heard.