Earthenware, stoneware, stains, oxide, ochre, steel, underglaze, clear glaze

Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Fondation Opale and Create NSW, and Australian National University
Courtesy of the artist

Made with the assistance of Mahala Hill, Kate Hill and Jess Kalthofen

Dennis Golding’s Connecting Back recreates the beaded maze toys he remembers playing with as a child in the waiting room of Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS). As the birthplace of many grassroots movements which established vital legal, health and community services for Aboriginal communities nationwide, Redfern’s decadeslong gentrification can be understood as a continuation of a colonial system which seeks to remove Indigenous people from their lands.

Taking the 2019 demolition of the iconic Aboriginal Flag mural as a starting point, Golding, who grew up in Redfern before being moved out along with most Aboriginal families, invites audiences to puzzle together the scattered pieces of Redfern’s Indigenous legacy. Figuratively reshaping the fallen black, red, and yellow bricks of the mural into hand-made toy beads and placing them on echoed silhouettes, Connecting Back confronts the dispossession of Aboriginal communities and questions what kinds of heritage are deemed worthy of preservation in contemporary Australia.

Photo Credit: image by artist