Author(s): Powerhouse-galang collective

Exhibition Catalogues

The galang collective convenes regularly to discuss the role of museums and other cultural institutions in the past and present colonisation of First Nations people. It’s a sovereign space to share culture and creative practice, and challenge narratives of sovereignty, decolonisation, identity, power and language. galang 01 brings together transcripts of the collective’s powerful and moving conversations with individual members’ contributions.

Essays from Léuli Eshrãghi, Liisa-Rávná Finbog and Biung Ismahasan explore the representation of First Nations art and culture; Mayunkiki and her collaborator Kanoko Tamura exchange a series of text messages that range across Indigenous identity, struggle and support; Brook Garru Andrew gives us an insight into his creative process with poems and sketches from his journals; and Emily McDaniel, Director First Nations at the Powerhouse, reflects on yindyamarra in the museum. First Nations designer Jenna Lee has designed the book as an object that has no beginning or end to reflect the circularity of time and stories that fold and turn on themselves.

A companion volume, galang 02, will be published in November 2022. galang volumes 01 and 02 are published in collaboration with the Powerhouse museum and Garru Editions.