Ilona McGuire is a proud Whadjuk, Ballardong, Yuat and Kungarakan woman. Her bloodlines run from Whadjuk boodja (land) to the Fitzmaurice region of the Northern Territory. Throughout her artistic practice, McGuire has explored a variety of skills and mediums to express her concepts including printmaking, painting and installation. More recently, McGuire has worked in drone choreography, sound design and narration. The 2021 Fremantle Biennale opened with her work, Moombaki. Moombaki saw 160 drones take flight to share Whadjuk Dreamtime stories in an immersive experience of light, movement and sound. Expression through her narration, music, design/choreography and space created a spiritual experience, site-specific and responsive to Whadjuk boodja.
Our Lives and Livelihood is a sanctuary where once McGuire would have received ancient oral tradition and knowledge. However, now these gifts lie in fragments. McGuire channels her ancestors’ presence to create a familiar space resembling the homes of her Noongar and Kungakaran families. She sits in her great-grandmother’s chair, listening to protest songs, with a cup of tea and an ANZAC biscuit to comfort her. Moments of comfort and disturbance are revealed, highlighting the vulnerabilities of the survival of First Nations People in Australia. With only each other as connections to culture, without the peace of walking on country where now there stands a concrete jungle, this work honours the people she is descended from, her connection to who she is.
