A cast bronze sculpture over five metres high of a First Nations woman rising out of water will be situated outside the Waldorf Astoria Sydney hotel at Circular Quay – a central business district and popular tourist site with heavy foot traffic.
Commissioned by Lendlease and created by Dharawal and Yuin artist Alison Page, Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) depicts a part woman, part whale figure that represents the deep connection First Nations people have to Country.
Page speaks on the significance of the public artwork: “Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) emerges from the water below the city, a place of spiritual potency for Dharawal women. She is the mixing of the salt water and the fresh water, her energy and essence lives within the Aboriginal women of Sydney today. She is every black woman, every mother, daughter, sister, aunty. She is Country.”
The project has been developed in conversation with Curatorial and Cultural Advisor Rhoda Roberts AO and Culture and Heritage expert Rowena Welsh-Jarrett, as well as locally connected representatives and Traditional Owners of the Coastal Sydney region who have come together to form the new Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group. The Group is made up of over 20 women including Rhonda Clark, Rene Campbell, Jacqui Jarrett (Timbery), Denise Simon, Lavina Phillips, Kowana Welsh, Dakota Dixon, Sara Campbell, Shaneah Jones, Keisha Davison, Angeline Penrith and Bronwyn Penrith.
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Page began her career in the late 1990s working in Australia’s first Aboriginal architecture group, Merrimack. Page’s public artworks already have a strong presence in New South Wales, including the permanent film installation at Barangaroo, Wellama (2019) and The Eyes of the Land and the Sea (2020), a sculpture at Kama Botany Bay National Park.
In addition to Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising), Page is currently working on sculpture projects for the redevelopment of the David Jones building, the Sydney Fish Markets, Westmead Children’s Hospital, M6 Parklands and Bondi Pavilion.
Installation for Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) is due to begin in 2026.
