Ngalga Dyi, Duba, Nura & Garrigarrang (Look Here, Ground, Country & Sea) in 1 Elizabeth - Photography: Brett Boardman
The artwork Ngalga Dyi, Duba, Nura & Garrigarrang, meaning Look Here, Ground, Country and Sea in the Sydney Language, is deeply connected with the Country and culture of the 1 Elizabeth site, for which the piece was specially commissioned. Sydney Language was a dialect of Dharug – the Dharug language had two major dialects: that of the Eora or coastal people and that spoken by people occupying the inland area from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains.
The artwork combines wayfinding totems (Ngalga Dyi / Look Here), an Acknowledgement of Country flooring design (Duba /Ground), and a seating design (Nura & Garrigarrang / Country & Sea) to highlight the story of Saltwater Country and Gadigal culture connected to the site.
Debra Beale’s Ngalga Dyi (Look Here) consists of both digital and static wayfinding totems. The digital wayfinding totems feature Debra’s depictions of local Murawal (fish) that belong to Gadigal waterways. The static wayfinding totems represent the shellfish, such as Dal-gal (mussels), Badangi (Sydney rock oysters) and Kah-dien (cockles), and the midden story of the area.
The Gadigal collected shellfish by hand from the sand and mudbanks, and shallow waters around Sydney Harbour. Early historical observation of shellfish being cooked and eaten by the Gadigal existed in middens in the lower parts of the Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay and Broken Bay.
Photography: Brett Boardman
Duba (Ground)
Debra Beale’s coastal flooring art integration, Duba (Ground) is deeply connected with Gadigal Country and culture. It explores the site-specific narrative of Country significant to the 1 Elizabeth precinct, inspired by Gadigal women, children and Country. Gadigal Country covers a wide area from Burrawara (South Head) across Warrane (Sydney Cove), Gomora (Darling Harbour), Blackwattle Creek, and the wetlands of Woolloomooloo Bay, where Beale lived for several years.
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Photography: Brett Boardman
Beale’s art celebrates the Gadigal women’s stories connected to the saltwater harbour, coves, bays and coastlines. In addition, the work explores the importance of the Tank Stream, a freshwater stream directly underneath Martin Place which still flows today in an underground channel. The Tank Stream, which had been maintained for centuries by Aboriginal people, was polluted by the colonists within months of their arrival.
The written Acknowledgement of Country is shaped to reflect the curve and flow of the local waterways and features Debra’s illustrations of shellfish, Murawal (fish) and Gawura (whale), which are significant animals to the Gadigal. Gawura (the whale) and its calf is a story told through sacred rock engravings found on the headland at La Perouse. There are also sacred sea animal engravings in the surrounding coastal areas of Sydney. The artwork celebrates the continuous connection that Aboriginal people have to the land and its sea water.
Nura & Garrigarrang (Country & Sea)
Debra Beale’s artwork, Nura & Garrigarrang (Country & Sea), has been integrated into the 1 Elizabeth’s terraced seating area and plinth, adding a unique Country-inspired cultural layer that allows people to stop, sit, gather and reflect. The tiered seating of the base building naturally lends itself to a reflection of the layered sandstone coastline of Sydney. Beale’s art depicts Badangi (rock oysters), Dal-gal (mussels), clam shells, pipi clusters and abalone clusters unique to Gadigal Country. These elements represent saltwater Country, but also tell a deeper story of Gadigal life; Gadigal women and children would walk Country and collect shellfish, providing families and communities with vital food sources and tool-making materials.
Photography: Brett Boardman
The placement of art also speaks to middens story significant to Gadigal Country and people. Naturally occurring shell middens are deep and stratified shells found in rock shelters or open locations on Gadigal Country. The shells provide an excellent preservation medium for other organic materials to survive and are often the only surviving archaeological evidence of Aboriginal occupation. From a cultural perspective, middens were used by the Gadigal to maintain sustainable use of Country, where the top layer of a midden pile informed what was eaten recently and to choose their meals on this basis so people did not oversource. The artwork is a strong statement of both Gadigal culture and habitation.
Debra Beale is a Gamilaraay/Wonnarua/Boonwurrung –Yorta Yorta/Palawa woman. She is a Blue Mountains and Sydney-based designer and maker. She was born in Surry Hills and has been practising art for over thirty years. Debra’s artwork tells a narrative of Aboriginal cultural practices, focusing on cultural heritage, family and community. It is a combination of Women’s Business and a process of acknowledging the past and moving forward to the future.
Her connection to Gadigal Country is a deep spiritual connection through sea waters connecting her to her mother’s bloodlines from the Boonwurrung/Palawa and Yorta Yorta Nations. Her connection also flows through the Wonnarua and Gamilaraay Nations with connections through her father's bloodlines and Songlines. Through these connections comes her identity, consisting of mother earth and father sky.
