Ngalawan: We Live. We Remain. is a major survey exhibition of senior Dharug artist, Leanne Tobin.
Born and raised in Western Sydney, Tobin spent much of her childhood years just a few blocks away from where Lewers now operates; but her life as an artist, and as an Aboriginal artist, tells a much more complex story.
Raised without knowledge of her Aboriginality, Tobin’s practice began as an Aboriginal resource teacher in Kakadu, Northern Territory, in the 1980s. It was there that she discovered her heritage as a Dharug woman and descendent of Bulunggayi, Maria Locke, and subsequently moved back to Dharug Country—not only to learn about her heritage, but to care for her Country and share its untold stories.
Now a prolific artist, Tobin’s practice is grounded by a deep respect and reverence for Country, propelling through her a career that is equal parts community leader and advocate, as much as individual practitioner. In Ngalawan: We Live. We Remain., over 40 years of her practice—from early community-led mural projects and portraiture, through to award-winning paintings and her now iconic eel sculptures—are seen together for the first time in a sprawling exhibition that encompasses our Main Gallery and Lewers House Gallery.
Key works from public and private collections, as well as a newly commissioned digital work, sharpen a lens on what has long been obscured—the continuity of Dharug culture, the truth of what happened on this Country, and the determined work of reclaiming it— making Ngalawan an emphatic declaration of Dharug cultural practice, here, in outer Western Sydney.
Leanne Tobin is a multidisciplinary artist of Irish, English and Aboriginal heritage descending from the Buruberong and Wumali clans of the Dharug, the traditional Aboriginal people of the Greater Sydney region. Often working collaboratively with community groups, local schools and institutions, Tobin uses her prolific and extensive interdisciplinary practice to tell local stories, evoke an environmental conscience, and encourage respect towards the land and its original people. Her art practice seeks to encourage an open and honest dialogue about the past and to nurture, respect and care for Country, paying homage to our Old People and their legacy.
