WENDY’S GARDEN TAKES YINDJIBARNDI COUNTRY TO SYDNEY
By Marli Ryan
When Yindjibarndi Elder Wendy Hubert spoke about being invited to the 25th Biennale of Sydney, she did not focus on prestige.
She spoke about culture and her childhood on country.
“It’s a celebration for me. I’ll celebrate it with culture and thank my life for 45 years with my elders”.
“Every breath I take, I got my culture with it. And that’s a good thing.”
Mrs Hubert will present Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery as part of the 25th Biennale of Sydney.
The exhibition will run from 14 March to 14 June 2026 and forms part of Australia’s largest contemporary visual arts event.
Carrying culture across the continent
The exhibition will extend beyond painting. Developed with the Juluwarlu Art Group Collective and the Yindjibarndi Rangers, the installation combines painting, video, sound, and a large-scale indoor and outdoor garden.
Mrs Hubert explained that more than 500 rocks would be transported from Yindjibarndi Country to Sydney as part of the work. Yindjibarndi Rangers aged 16 to 20 will make the road journey with the items to bring the exhibition to life.
For Mrs Hubert, the journey is about passing on knowledge.
She said, “This is the last of me I will share with my young generation”.
The opening will include song, dance and cultural materials.
“We got the song and dance. And those young people can dance too, and they can sing”.
Yindjibarndi culture is embedded throughout the exhibition. It is not just art, but cultural immersion.
A garden built by hand
At the centre of the exhibition’s inspiration are core memories, artistically expressed from Mrs Hubert’s long life on Yindjibarndi ngurra.
She reflected on station life and The Meat Hanger, one of her favourite works in the exhibition.
Mrs Hubert described how her father taught her to skin and prepare meat from a freshly caught bullock and reflected on the garden, which is the heart of the installation.
“The garden my uncle and my father built out of their bare hands”.
She remembered taking her eldest son back to pick the first fruit from the mango tree planted by her elders years earlier a quiet but powerful moment that ties generations together through country.
For Mrs Hubert, these works are not just memories. They are living knowledge, carried forward.
Remembering the old people
Mrs Hubert reflected on growing up on country.
“We knew how to get bush lollies. We knew how to get bush tucker and go fishing down the creek.”
She says the work goes beyond being part of the 25th Biennale.
For Mrs Hubert, it’s not just art, it’s preserving and sharing cultural knowledge, making sure those stories are recorded and carried forward for the next generation.
She said she wanted to honour those who taught her.
“I want to thank the old people in Roebourne. You know, the last of the elders and in remembrance of those people who taught us culture.”
Mrs Hubert said she felt strong as she prepared for Sydney.
“I hope to live to one hundred. That’s what I’m thinking. I can live to one hundred because I feel young and free and able to do anything.”
At the 25th Biennale of Sydney, Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden will share Yindjibarndi principles of Ngurra (home), Wangga (truth and language), Galharra (kinship), Birdarra (ceremony) and Nyinyart (reciprocity) with audiences on Dharug Country.
