21°C | Saturday May 24, 2025 
24 October 2024
By Hannah Wilcox
Keep the Fire Burning has officially launched at the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability.
The exhibition is a collection of artworks by Indigenous creatives exploring the transformative and enduring power of fire.
Presented by North Sydney Council, it will run until November 3.
The Sun spoke to curator and Noongar woman Jodie Dowd about the exhibition and the importance of Indigenous storytelling.
“North Sydney Council approached me earlier this year to talk about doing the first ever First Nations exhibition down here at the coal loader,” Dowd explained.
“I think it’s the first [time] for North Sydney Council as well.”
She added: “We’ve been working on this exhibition for six months and we’ve brought together nine First Nations artists who have a connection to Cammeraygal Country where we are.”
Dowd said she wanted to make the exhibition as accessible as possible, with all the works displayed in rooms along Tunnel 1.
The artists – Amanda Jane Reynolds, Dr. Virginia Keft, Kieran Satour, Lucy Simpson, Courtney Marsh-Currie, Nathan Mudyi Sentance, Dr. Emma Hicks, Amethyst Downing-McLeod and Dowd – all responded to the theme Keep the Fire Burning.
“Not just talking to the element of fire and cultural burns and that kind of thing, but also keeping knowledge alive and sharing. Keeping the stories alive and sharing stories,” Dowd said.
“The theme actually originated over a decade ago, on the 40th year anniversary of the Aboriginal tent embassy.”
“Ashes from the eternal fire in Canberra were taken to different cities across Australia, with the ashes that were taken to Musgrave Park being a part of an eternal fire lit there in 2012,” she recalled.
“They actually coined the phrase keep the fire burning.”
Gamilaroi artist Dr Emma Hicks has been living on Cammeraygal Country for 15 years and has two works included in the installation.
In June, she completed a 12-month residency at Ridge St Artists’ Studios as part of North Sydney Council’s Artist Professional Development Program.
Untitled, 2024 is a site-specific installation as part of an ongoing body of work that responds to a series of stained-glass windows, in particular those that her grandfather built and those that sat at the entrance of the Babies Home where her nan was taken during the stolen generation.
Hicks sees this work as a healing practice, acknowledging that somewhere between our words, images and our relations is another space to continue conversations.
Her second piece was created in collaboration with a neighbouring brush turkey which collected a bunch of items during nesting season.
“I’ve got two artworks in the show and I was really excited to be approached by Jodie to put some works in this show,” she said.
“I’ve been down to this space a lot of times before and seeing it transform with all of the First Nations artists in this space is a really good thing to see in this area.”
“It’s good to have a presence known on the north side.”
Viewing is open to the public Thursday to Sunday only, with entry free.