Join NorthSite Contemporary Arts for the public opening of The Ghosts of Lani Mulgrave Blair, a major new exhibition curated by Henrietta Marrie AM and Andrea Bubenik.
Our opening program begins with a Welcome to Country, followed by opening remarks and a short screening of Lani by Demons Land Collective, followed by a curator-led exhibition walk-through and informal refreshments. Guests are invited to experience this powerful exhibition alongside the curators, artists, and project team, and to share in conversations that honour Yidinji history, resilience, and cultural continuity.
We can’t wait to see you, please RSVP below for catering purposes.
About the Exhibition
The Ghosts of Lani Mulgrave Blair marks 150 years of resilience, resistance, and cultural survival for the Yidinji Nation since the colonial occupation of Gimuy/Cairns. As part of a year-long program of events, the exhibition invites audiences to walk alongside Yidinji leaders and community members as they reclaim history through storytelling, language revitalisation, and the enduring presence of cultural knowledge, objects, and traditions. Bringing together historical archives with contemporary artistic practice, the exhibition offers a profound reflection on memory, identity, and the ongoing work of cultural restoration.
At the heart of the exhibition is the story of Lani Mulgrave Blair (1883–1900), a Yidinji boy taken from the Mulgrave River during a period of violent frontier conflict and trafficked to Melbourne, where he was raised within colonial society. His story survives through photographs, newspaper accounts, paintings, and monuments, but also through Yidinji oral histories and the living knowledge of Country. Through new works by Yidinji artist Paul Bong, Jaymen Drahm, the experimental film Lani by Demons Land Collective, and Carl Fourmile‘s evocative sound work Yidinji Lament, the exhibition returns Lani’s story to Yidinji Country, confronting the legacies of colonisation while celebrating the enduring strength, sovereignty, and continuity of Yidinji culture.
