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Yirranma Place, Paul Ramsay Foundation


Artwork William Brian ‘Badger’ Bates, Sharing Barkandji stories of land, water and sky, 2022, forged steel gates and ceiling painting, gates: 3 × 10.75m; ceiling painting: 4.45 × 10.75m.

LocationPaul Ramsay Foundation headquarters, 262 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney

CommissionerPaul Ramsay Foundation

Architects SJB

CuratorBarbara Flynn, Art Advisor

Photography Mark Pokorny

Downloads
 Preliminary Public Art Plan


William Brian ‘Badger’ Bates is a Barkandji man, born 1947 in Wilcannia, New South Wales, who lives and works in Wilcannia and Broken Hill. He is a distinguished Barkandji traditional owner and leader whose work with and for his community is substantial and profound. As an Aboriginal Sites Officer for NSW National Parks and Wildlife, he worked for 21 years until he retired in 2005. Since then, he has contributed his time to sitting on boards and committees, including the Joint Management Committees of Paroo-Darling National Park and Toorale National Park, and the Mutawintji National Park Board of Management. He teaches young people about Barkandji culture. He is a widely recognised and respected activist and advocate for the health of the Barka, the Darling River. And he makes his art, including exhibiting his work, taking up artist residencies and realising public artworks. Bates was a participating artist in the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, titled rivus (12 March – 13 June 2022), the pre-eminent exhibition of international contemporary art in Australia. His works are in the collections of the Australian Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia and Broken Hill Regional Gallery among other collections.
            The gates were forged from steel under the direction of Matt Mewburn at Eveleigh Works in South Eveleigh, New South Wales. According to the Smithsonian Institute (Washington, DC), Eveleigh Works is ‘the largest and most integral collection of Victorian blacksmithing equipment, in terms of integrity and extent, known in the western world’. Mewburn was the perfect collaborator for Bates who has said that when they met, ‘it was just like we had known each other forever’.
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