Birrpai — Ngioka Bunda Heath

Featuring in the Saltwater Freshwater Festival 2026, hosted by Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Aboriginal Corporation.

— Imagine seeing photos of your ancestors in museums, taken by people documenting an ‘exotic’ sighting

From whose lens do we view memory, history, and culture?

Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick is a talk, performance, and photographic exhibition refocusing the lens on the UNESCO-listed Thomas Dick Birrpai Photograph Collection. This collection of historical photos was taken from 1910 by non-Indigenous Port Macquarie oyster farmer Thomas Dick and to portray pre-contact Birrpai life and people. 

Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick is a thought-provoking celebration and remembrance of family by the descendants of the photos: Birrpai Traditional Owner, historian and father John Heath; and his daughter, dancer and choreographer Ngioka Bunda-Heath.

Choreographer/ Performer: Ngioka Bunda-Heath
Elder / Performer: Dr John Heath
Lighting Design, Production Manager: Siobhan Geaney
Sound: Daniel Nixon

This tour of Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick at Saltwater Freshwater Festival 20226 is supported by Dancehouse, the Besen Family Foundation, Regional Arts New South Wales, and the Chloe Munroe AO and Lucy Guerin Inc Independent Artist Fellowship. Birrpai was co-commissioned by Chunky Move and Next Wave with support from Creative Victoria, Merri-bek Council, and first premiered at YIRRAMBOI (2021) at Black Dot Gallery.