Badu Gili
Story Keepers
- Events, Sydney
- Wed 17 Dec 2025 → Thu 17 Dec 2026
The Sydney Opera House announced its new chapter of the free, nightly First Nations sails projection Badu Gili: Story Keepers, featuring the artworks of Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street and Inuk custodian Ningiukulu Teevee.
Kicking off at sunset, the free six-minute projection — curated by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain’s First Nations Curatorial Fellow Bruce Johnson McLean — will feature Street's colourful paintings followed by Teevee's bold drawings on the Eastern Bennelong sails, for the third year of the creative partnership between the Opera House, Biennale of Sydney and the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.
Mervyn Street’s distinctive artistic practice draws upon his lifetime as a stockman in the Kimberley and advocacy of cultural preservation through language and living on country. Kinngaimmiut Inuk artist Ningiukulu Teevee creates visual art rooted in Inuit myths and legends, keeping traditional stories alive while offering her unique perspective on Inuit culture. The work of both artists will be animated by Sydney-based creative agency Vandal.
The first chapter is set on Gooniyandi Country in the Kimberley where dust, fire and wind lift ancestral voices from scorching heat to moonlight. The narrative then shifts to Teevee's homeland of Nunavut in the Arctic, where ice and snow cradle stories in stillness as Raven and Owl perform timeless tales of creation, kinship and transformation.
“My mum and Dad used to work. My Dad was just like a slave working over and over, everyday... I’m going back through my history, I’m doing it for the people, doing it for everybody, not for myself. I’m passing on my knowledge.”
Mervyn Street
Bruce Johnson McLean
Bruce Johnson McLean is a member of the Wierdi people of Wribpid (Belyando River region in Central Queensland) and is one of Australia’s leading voices on First Nations art and culture. A curator, writer, advisor and consultant with over 25 years’ professional experience in the sector Bruce has been involved in First Nations art his entire life. Most recently Bruce was Assistant Director, First Nations at the National Gallery of Australia, managing First Nations programs and initiatives. For the 16 years prior, Bruce was Curator, Indigenous Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
Mervyn Street
A proud Gooniyandi man, an accomplished author, artist and activist whose work explores the experiences of First Nations stockmen, his ancestral Kimberley lands and Gooniyandi culture. Street formerly served as Chairman of both Mangkaja and the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC). He maintains an active leadership role in promoting cultural preservation and advocating for the benefits of Indigenous communities continuing to live on Country.
Ningiukulu Teevee
An Inuk artist and storyteller from Kinngait, Canada (NU). Through her visual art and writing, Teevee offers her distinctive viewpoint on both historical and contemporary Inuit culture. Her work is driven by a commitment to keeping Inuit stories alive, particularly the myths and legends told by Elders that serve as the main source of inspiration for her art.
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