Gadigal Wangal wayfinding project
Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding Wins Local Government Award
Friday 5 November 2021
Inner West Council has won the prestigious Leo Kelly OAM Arts and Culture Award for the Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding Project. The Local Government NSW annual Leo Kelly Arts and Culture Award recognises councils that have excelled in strategic policy, planning, delivery and evaluation in arts and culture. In 2016, Council received funding from the NSW Government through the Stronger Communities Programme to commission five art installations, one for each ward of the Local Government Area.
After a critical investigation into the Gadigal Wangal landscape of the Inner West was completed, artists were then invited to respond to the site-specific research and depict an element of the rich and unique Gadigal and Wangal culture. Congratulations to all of the Artists, Council staff and contractors involved in the delivery of this outstanding series of artworks.
Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding
The Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding project describes components of Aboriginal history using visual means, and through these beautiful artworks we celebrate the continuing presence of Aboriginal people within the inner west. These award winning works add to the wider public art collection and represent features and histories of Gadigal Wangal Lands, deepening our connection to place, and enriching our knowledge of a pre- and post-colonised inner west.
Watch the project video
Meet the artists and find out about the inspiration behind these five special art works.
Gadigal Wangal Mentoring Commission
Chris Edwards of the creative team Edwards Clarke acted as a mentor to three young Aboriginal Artists, guiding them through the process of developing a design proposal for the final public art commission of this series. All three young artists developed exceptional, heartfelt designs, and we advise you to look out for them work in the future, and you can also see it at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists' Cooperative.
Hayley Pigram, Travis de Vries and Jasmine Sarin, were the lucky mentees selected from a list of recommendations provided by local Aboriginal arts and educational institutions. All three artists advised us that they all learnt a lot from Chris and will use this next time they apply for a public art opportunity.
The artist selected for the final Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding commission was Jasmine Sarin. Her eloquent design has been installed at Camperdown Memorial Rest in Newtown.