Artists statement

In Moorina Bonini’s Bitja (Fire), we see a Koorie pattern emerge on river gum bark as it is revitalised and reformed through the smoke and fire. Bitja (Fire) is a reference to caring for Country, using fire as a healing tool to revitalise new beginnings or as a reference point for restoration. A poem accompanies the work:

Caring for my Country
Breathing
Country pulses and the blood in
my veins pulse in response
I walked outside and I put my
feet into the sand
Dirt
Water
Country I covered my feet with
Country one handful after
another
and buried myself in the space
Where I have always belonged.
Bitja (Fire) revitalises, and through the smoke and charcoal
Country heals.
Listen.