“‘Naabámi (thou shall/will see): Barangaroo (army of me)’ – Honouring Matriarchal Sovereignty”
Monday, December 9th, 4:45 PM
Goldwin Smith Hall G22
Abstract
Cammeraygal[1]sovereign woman Barangaroo (1750–1791), is the constant ancestral guide for the Naabami (thou shall/will see): Barangaroo (army of me) series, which also responds to her namesake site – reclaimed and reconstructed land bordering Warrane/Warrang. First Nations names, clans, nations and language words are used for place names, as de facto memorials to displaced, dispersed custodians – often corrupted by an unfamiliar tongue, with minimal reference to the origin except in heritage reports. This begs the question: Whose heritage are we honouring with these acts of corporeal, cultural erasure?
Biography
Brenda L Croft is from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra Nations of the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory of Australia, and has Anglo-Australian/Chinese/German/Irish/Scottish heritage. She is the Gough Whitlam & Malcolm Fraser Visiting Chair of Australian Studies, Harvard University (2023/24), teaching into the departments of History of Art & Architecture, and Art, Film and Visual Studies. She is organising Ancestral Futures: Indigenous Cardinal Relations, a Critical Indigenous Creative-led Studies symposium at Harvard, 4 – 6 October.
