Sydney Harbour artwork honours Aboriginal fisherwomen and the history of Barangaroo
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The story of the Aboriginal fisherwomen of Sydney Harbour and their defiance against British colonists, who once excessively hauled 4,000 fish in one day, is the inspiration for a new public artwork at Barangaroo.
Lifelong Sydney resident Emily McDaniel is a descendant of the Kalari clan from the Wiradjuri nation in central west New South Wales.
When Ms McDaniel was invited to curate the new artwork, she said she ultimately wanted to commemorate the influential Cammeraygal fisherwoman after whom the harbour location was named.
"Sydney thinks of Barangaroo as a location first and foremost," Ms McDaniel said.
"I want to reverse that, for people to know that she was a woman and she very strongly opposed her husband Bennelong's interaction with the British."
According to accounts written in 1804 by Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins, British colonists hauled in 4,000 fish from the waters of Sydney Cove during one day in 1790.
It was an excessive act that greatly affected the Eora fisherwomen of the area who practiced more sustainable methods of fishing by hand.
"When this happened it completely eliminated women from their position in the community," Ms McDaniel said.
"[The colonists] gifted about 40 fish down the river to Bennelong — that was men giving fish to men, so women, again, out of the picture."
Ms McDaniel said this event provided an understanding into why Barangaroo was recorded as a "difficult" character throughout history.
"When Bennelong first went to Sydney to meet the governor, she broke his fishing spears in anger and protest," she said.
"But what we're saying here is there's a context for her actions, there was a reason.
"She wasn't just angry, she was an environmentalist and she was standing up for women's rights as well."
While it is estimated there were around 1,700 colonists at Port Jackson at the time, Ms McDaniel said their fishing activities were excessive for that population.
"I think it was just [the colonists] reaping the country of its benefits because they didn't connect to the land yet."
For the artwork, Ms McDaniel brought together the talents of four Indigenous artists who created visual, audio and sculptural elements responding to the story of the fisherwomen.
Visitors to the site at Nawi Cove have been invited to scoop water from the harbour and create fish-shaped ice sculptures using cast moulds.
Once frozen, the ice fish are then placed on a large canoe moored at the end of a pontoon.
The warmth of a flame and the setting sun melts them, symbolising their return to the waters of Warrane (Sydney Harbour).
At the opening of the installation, Ms McDaniel said she was deeply moved by the participants' actions throughout the ceremony.
"The reverence, care and precision as they placed those fish was quite beautiful to watch, they stacked them up perfectly," she said.
"I really hadn't prepared myself for that and I am quite moved by that."
Ms McDaniel said she wanted visitors to be reminded of the environmental impact that current and future populations would make on the harbour's delicate marine ecosystem.
"This isn't a story of the past, it's a story that has defined our future.
"These actions, from when the British first came to Australia, have really influenced the way we respond to our natural environment.
"I hope this is a project that makes Sydneysiders take responsibility for the history we've inherited."
Topics: visual-art, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-culture, history, human-interest, community-and-society, sydney-2000
