MEGAN COPE: NGUMPI KINYINGARRA OYSTER HOUSE

“My works ask questions about how art and culture can heal Saltwater Country as well as our current relationship with the environment.” – Megan Cope

Welcome to Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House, a 10 day participatory project celebrating local oysters, community collaboration, and environmental stewardship. Internationally acclaimed Quandamooka artist Megan Cope makes living sculptures and public installations that revive ancestral technologies, heal saltwater environments, and share knowledge.

Ngumpi Kinyingarra means ‘oyster house’ in Cope’s Jandai language. For New Annual, Newcastle Art Gallery will present the Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House, a temporary pavilion on the Honeysuckle Marina, to create a place for gathering and learning about the cultural significance of oysters and local histories of Newcastle.

Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House will host Megan Cope’s daily ‘Scrub Club’ from 10.00am – 5.00pm. Audiences are invited to roll up their sleeves, to contribute oyster shells for Cope’s future oyster reef art projects.

Across the 10 days of New Annual, Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House will also be activated by a dynamic program of talks, workshops, performances and music. The program line up to feature local and national artists, oyster experts, knowledge holders, performers, musicians, writers and more. Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House hopes that by centring and honouring the oyster, we can transform our understanding of Country and reinvigorate our deep responsibilities to it.

Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House will be located at Honeysuckle Marina, corner of Workshop Way and Merewether Street, Newcastle.

Children under 12 years of age to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

SENSORY & CONTENT WARNING
Scrub Club workshops will require audiences to wear gloves and clean oyster shells in cool, soapy water.

ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair access

ARTISTS & COLLABORATORS
Artist & creator: Megan Cope
Megan Cope is represented by Milani Gallery, Meeanjin/Brisbane.

The pavilion for Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House has been designed by students at the University of Newcastle School of Architecture and Built Environment facilitated by Associate Professor Sam Spurr and Senior Lecturer Anna Tweeddale: Alistair Eglington, Chalyse Fowler, Ivie Wong Hueyyi, Joshua Medbury, Keiran Buckley, Peter Ellis, Rachel Florey, Tahlia Phillips, Tom Licata.