Dancing on the Whale Songlines
Artist: Peta-Joy Williams
The inspiration for this piece is my son’s connection to Whale dreaming from his Tjamu (Grandfather) who is a senior law man from the Mirning Nation located in the Great Australian Bite of Australia. When my son started dancing, he was given permission to paint his face to represent the underbelly of the whale. The Mirning people still sing and dance to the whale songs.
My son will be spending more time in Ceduna to learn more about these stories. He will learn his traditional dances to bring back to Sydney to share with the young men he grew up with in the local La Perouse area. For me, though my nation is fresh water, growing up on the Bidijigal area I also have a strong connection the salt water people. My design has both fresh water and salt water represented in it. This connects me to my ancestors as well as the land and water I was born on.
Peta-Joy Williams
Peta-Joy (PJ) has artworks all over the world, including murals, private collections, government and corporate collections, football teams’ collections, in Reconciliation Action Plans and more. She has designed bespoke artworks for various agencies. In 2021, PJ won the Bayside Council inaugural Aboriginal Artist of the Year award. She also delivers a number of Cultural Workshops across NSW, including Cultural Awareness sessions, Art masterclasses and Weaving workshops.
This has always been a place where boats have been built and plied their trade on the harbour and further afield. From Nawi (canoe) used by Barangaroo and Eora women to fish, to passage boats of European settlers, the Hawkesbury Packet cargo sloop, the first ship built in Cockle Bay (1811), and Australia’s first warships –Spitfire (1855) and Pioneer (1863).
Important early shipyards of the 1830s included Lawrence Corcoran’s and Barclay’s, on the eastern side of Darling Harbour, and Samuel Charles’s and JW Russell’s, which were located in Pyrmont near the current site of The Australian National Maritime Museum. The Museum celebrates and showcases this long maritime heritage. Its Australian Register of Historic Vessels features over 800 historic vessels with significance for Australia’s maritime history.
First Nations Audio Narrative: With thanks to our Indigenous Cultural Advisors, Aunty Jo Selfe and Uncle Graham Toomey, and special contributors who have generously shared important stories of place. Listen to the First Nations Audio Narrative here.
Charity Auction
Love Whale Tales? Want to keep one?
You can! After the Waterfront Whale Tales trail concludes, all 30 sculptures will be offered for purchase at a dedicated art auction at Sydney Maritime Museum, Terrace Room.
The net proceeds from the auction will go to The Kids’ Cancer Project.
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