Balun Gawarima – River Story is a new exhibition by Indigenous artist Melody Popple, developed through her PhD project Moving Through Waters. Grounded in the waterways of Bundjalung Jagun, the exhibition explores the cultural, emotional, and ecological significance of water through bush dyeing, natural pigments, and visual story-mapping.
Created in collaboration with Country, the works use native flora, found materials, and water gathered from local river systems to produce richly layered eco-printed textiles that carry the physical imprint of place. Water becomes both subject and collaborator – activating pigments, shaping form, and holding memory.
Responding to the realities of a post-flood Bundjalung landscape, the exhibition reflects on water as a force of both destruction and renewal. Through acts of returning, listening, gathering, and making, Popple’s practice becomes an offering back to Country – honouring connection, healing, reciprocity, and the enduring stories carried by river systems.
