A Tribute to the Concrete Box (For Aunty Hyllus)

Bus Projects (2020)

‘When will the time come for all Kooris to have their freedom, peace of mind and their health?’
— Hyllus Maris

A new body of work presented by Moorina Bonini, which explores the repositioning of narratives placed around Indigenous people in Australia. The origins of these works are influenced by Moorina’s Great Aunt, Hyllus Maris, and her metaphor ‘The Concrete Box’.

Utilising Aboriginal cultural practices, sculpture, and video, Moorina will interrogate institutional space through the physical action of deconstruction. This will occur within the gallery through the dismantling of a white cube. Traditional tools will be used to break through the white walls, in an aim to create an opportunity for community to reclaim power and authority over their histories, their artworks and over the exhibition space itself. Once peering inside a red core is revealed, a light will shine out, encouraging a re-imagining of institutional space for Indigenous people. Speaking past structures that have historically erased Indigenous people, Moorina will instead highlight and re-centre Indigenous knowledge systems.