Change Media has been commissioned by ACE to collaborate with Ngarrrindjeri artist Clyde Rigney Jnr to create a video installation for ACE’s ‘A river that flows both ways’ exhibition in conjunction with Biennale of Sydney 2023.
Inspired by rivers that flow both ways, ACE has partnered with the Biennale of Sydney to present a local response to the 23rd Biennale, titled rīvus (Latin for “stream”). Dedicated to nature and water-based ecologies, rīvus tackles many timely environmental themes including pollution, climate change, and the effect of colonisation on First Peoples’ custodianship of ecosystems.
Exhibition: Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, Adelaide CBD, February 4 2023 to March 18 2023. Also see their website here: https://www.ace.gallery/watch-read-listen/river-voice-murrundi-murray-river
‘A river that flows both ways’ exhibition 2023. Photo by Graham Hancock. Courtesy of Adelaide Contemporary Experimental
Excerpt from the poetry performance:
“Our waters are not healthy.
Introduced management systems continue to severely damage Murrundi and the Kurangk.
The impacts are affecting our rights as Ngarrindjeri to remain Ngarrindjeri.
Everything is connected: If our rivers die, we die.
The River Murray is a colonial delusion, it is Murrundi who sustains us.
We urgently need to come to terms with Murrundi, with each other, for future generations to be healthy.”
Credits:
Performed by Clyde Rigney Jnr, Tangane/Yaralde Ngarrindjeri, from Murrundi and Kurangk, South Australia
Co-written + co-directed by Clyde Rigney Jnr, Jen Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell
Produced by Carl Kuddell and Jen Lyons-Reid
Recorded and edited by Change Media
Supported through the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts and the South Australian Government through Arts SA.
A river that flows both ways: Selected works from the 23rd Biennale of Sydney: rīvus is presented by the Biennale of Sydney and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, with generous support from the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.
The River Voices project was originally commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australian Film Television and Radio School for the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (2022), titled rīvus.