{"id":274540,"date":"2025-12-15T17:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T06:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/?p=274540"},"modified":"2025-12-15T14:46:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T03:46:35","slug":"badu-gili-story-keepers-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/badu-gili-story-keepers-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Opera House sails have transformed with Badu Gili: Story Keepers"},"content":{"rendered":"

As dusk settles over Sydney Harbour, the sails of the Opera House once again become a canvas for storytelling. From 17 December, Badu Gili: Story Keepers<\/a> marks a new chapter in the landmark\u2019s nightly First Nations projection series, developed in close partnership with the Biennale of Sydney and the Fondation Cartier<\/a> pour l\u2019art contemporain.<\/p>\n

The six-minute animation brings together two Indigenous artists from opposite sides of the world: Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street from the Kimberley in Western Australia, and Kinngaimmiut Inuk artist Ningiukulu Teevee from Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. Curated by Bruce Johnson McLean, the Fondation Cartier pour l\u2019art contemporain\u2019s First Nations Curatorial Fellow, the work reflects Cartier\u2019s long-standing commitment to supporting Indigenous voices and fostering cross-cultural artistic exchange.<\/p>\n

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Street\u2019s paintings open the projection, grounding the work in Gooniyandi Country. Dust, fire and wind move across the sails, carrying stories shaped by a lifetime spent working as a stockman and advocating for cultural preservation through language and life on Country. Street describes the project as an act of sharing rather than self-expression. \u201cI\u2019m doing it for the people,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m passing on my knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the narrative shifts hemispheres, the projection moves into the stillness of the Arctic. Teevee\u2019s bold drawings animate Inuit myths and legends, centring on the story of Raven and Owl \u2013 figures that have remained with her since childhood. Ice and snow frame scenes of transformation, curiosity and balance, drawing on stories first told to her by an Elder at school. Through animation, Teevee reinterprets these teachings, connecting Inuit oral tradition with contemporary visual language.<\/p>\n\n

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