As the sun set on Wednesday 16 April, the balcony of The Rise in Maylands was illuminated for the opening of Birralyn Kaartadjin | Bayswater Knowledge, an exhibition celebrating the Noongar culture that has been embedded in the Birralyn (Bayswater) area for thousands of years. 

Moving inside, attendees discovered that the building’s conference space had been transformed into a cinema for the night. Amid gentle blue lighting, a hush fell over the crowd as John Hart’s powerful voice signalled the start of the Baarlunging Birralyn Maarkulin I Tracking Bayswater Journey animation.

Transporting the viewer back in time to explore Noongar life and culture pre-colonisation, the Baarlunging Birralyn Maarkulin I Tracking Bayswater Journey animation was created by Alexander Hare and is based on the story of the same name, written by Bruce Denny to capture stories shared by Elders and Traditional Owners during the Place Names Bayswater project. Featuring illustrations of local flora and fauna created by the project participants, the animation takes the reader on a virtual tour of the decoded placename locations, explaining how and why the Noongar people moved from place to place as the seasons changed. It is available for viewing on the CAN website.

The animation screening was a perfect introduction to the exhibition, which featured artworks exploring the meanings of five Noongar placenames located in the City of Bayswater. These were created during the Place Names Bayswater project by participants – Noongar Elders, Traditional Owners and community members – led by creative producer Zali Morgan and supported by Traditional Owner and Noongar artist Geri Hayden.

The exhibition opening also included the launch of the book Birralyn Kaartadjin | Bayswater Knowledge. Like the animation, this evocative publication includes the Baarlunging Birralyn Maarkulin I Tracking Bayswater Journey story and is illustrated with images of the community-created artworks. You can read the book here.

Thank you to the Hon Patrick Gorman MP, for introducing the event, Filomena Piffaretti – Mayor City of Bayswater for officially launching the event and to Dan Bull for Maylands MLA for attending on behalf of the Hon Simone McGurk MLA, Minister for Creative Industries.

Finally, thank you to our partners, the City of Bayswater and Moodjar. Place Names Bayswater is supported by the Federal Government through the Indigenous Languages and the Arts program.

Pictured top: The Place Names Bayswater map, which features the locations of the five decoded placenames, and linocut prints on paper and silk, all created by community members during the Place Names Bayswater project // credit Cassandra Edwards