Guest post was written by Shelley Winkel, courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland.
On the basement level of a Brisbane office building lies an enterprise of Dreamtime calm that serves to educate, inspire, heal and feed all who enter.
Welcome to Birrunga, a cultural hub that surfaces the talent of contemporary Indigenous Artists and the untold stories that have shaped their lives. It is a place where the knowledgeable co-founder, Suzie Goodchild, will warmly greet you and happily explain what is on show. Equally, she will point out the must-try dishes on the Bush Tucker-inspired menu. (For the record, the 12-Hour Pulled Emu and the Myrtle Leaf Curry Kangaroo tops the list).
For Birrunga Wiradyuri, the principal artist and life partner of Suzie, no topic seems off limits when it comes to art. Turn right on entering the gallery and you’ll find a magnificent portrait of Wayne Weaver, a former Boggo Road Jail inmate whose piercing blue eyes belie the pain of many years of incarceration. Wayne is also Birrunga’s best mate, the third co-founder of this remarkable space and a notable artist himself.
Meanwhile, a striking painting of the Brisbane River snaking its way across the canvas tells another disturbing story. Look closer and you’ll see that a quadrant of roads, still named Boundary Street, create a perimeter that once blocked Aboriginal people from entering the city. Birrunga reminds us that this imposed curfew, which started in the 1800s, continued only until recent living memory.
Painful truths like these are part of the education and healing process that gently tumble out if you spend time with Birrunga and his team. And the best way to do that is armed with a 10-centimetre canvas and a license to paint.
Suzie explains that the Art Classes change according to the group (“Birrunga works with feel and changes things for the group”), but generally start with a canvas, a dozen or so colours to choose from and a clear message to close your eyes and channel a place of great connection.
If you are lucky, one of the team will play the didgeridoo to set the scene for creativity. If you are even luckier, you will learn to use circles and ripples and craft something that resembles Jellyfish Dream, a wonderful swirl of green and blue that reimagines the sky world where Biiyami, the creator, lives.
As an artist who commands tens of thousands of dollars for each piece (ironic, given Birrunga spent some of his youth living on the streets and that he only picked up a brush in 2011), Birrunga’s philosophy is to give back. And to do that respectfully and slowly.
This shows up time and again throughout the gallery; from a charity that supports pre and post-release for Indigenous prisoners, to the mentoring of Kane Brunjes, an exciting young Ungari Man from Murgon whose paintings explode with energy. There’s also a gift list of locally sourced artefacts and treasures to purchase and the employment of Indigenous youths onsite such as Shania, whose role as Tourism Leader is to talk about the paintings.
If you have any doubts about the calibre of work on display, just look at the walls. The gallery is home to a lineup of portraits that Birrunga successfully entered into the Archibald Prize. There’s Uncle Archie (Roach) presiding over a wooden cadenza lined with ethically sourced Aboriginal treasures, Walkley award-winning writer Melissa Lucaschenko popping out of a frame with too much lip to the side, and ABC Radio host Eddie Ayers. Birrunga’s paintings form a who’s who in the Australian cultural world today.
The gallery also has a rotating display of diverse artworks.
If all that is too much, take time for an excellently made coffee. Then sit back and drink it all in.
About Birrunga Gallery and Dining
Birrunga Gallery and Dining are the only Indigenous-owned and operated commercial Cultural space in Meanjin in the Brisbane CBD. Wiradyuri man, Birrunga Wiradyuri, is the founder and principal artist.
Website: Birrunga Gallery and Dining.
Address: 300 Adelaide St, Brisbane CBD, QLD 4000
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland
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