Collection 05: Aboriginal dance ceremony performed at Yabun, Sydney, 26 January 2021, photographs by Barbara McGrady

sub-fonds

26 January 2021

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9659448

16 photographs - digital, JPEG, colour

Barbara McGrady, a Gamilaraay woman, was born in Mungindi, New South Wales. She has been photographing political and social events of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and families of the Redfern, Surry Hills and Waterloo communities for more than 30 years.
Reference: Library acquisition file

16 digital photographs taken at Yabun, 26 January 2021.

Item 01: Wagana Aboriginal Dancers perform at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 02: Yabun hosts Medika Thorpe and Luke Carroll, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 03: Buuja Buuja-Butterfly Dance Group performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 04: Buuja Buuja-Butterfly Dance Group performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 05: Male dancer with Buuja Buuja-Butterfly Dance Group performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 06: A young female dancer with Buuja Buuja-Butterfly Dance Group performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 07: Buuja Buuja-Butterfly Dance Group performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 08: Elders Max Harrison and Bronwyn Penrith deliver a Welcome to Country, with hosts Medika Thorpe and Luke Carroll at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 09: Gomeroi Dance Company performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 10: Gomeroi Dance Company performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 11: Gawura dancer performs at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 12: Three female Gawura dancers perform at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 13: Ngaran Ngaran Dancers perform at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 14: Ngaran Ngaran Dancers perform at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 15: Max Harrison puts out the ceremonial fire at Yabun, Victoria Park, Camperdown, New South Wales, 26 January 2021
Item 16: Singer Vic Simms performs at the Yabun Stage, Seymour Centre, Chippendale, New South Wales, 26 January 2021

In copyright:
Copyright holder:: Barbara McGrady
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy Barbara McGrady

The Yabun Festival held annually on 26 January was started in 2003 by Gadigal Information Service. Yabun continues the tradition of Aboriginal 'Survival Day' gatherings, first staged in 1992 to emphasise Indigenous Australia’s cultural survival and resilience. The free open-air concerts feature Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal entertainers, musicians and artists.

As a result of COVID-19, Yabun 2021 was effectively cancelled. Instead, a welcome and smoking ceremony took place at Victoria Park. It included a series of dance groups from different parts of New South Wales representing river, saltwater and urban clans. The event was livestreamed for an online audience. A concert was later held at the nearby Seymour Centre, again livestreamed.