Ceremony

Mambanha (the cry of mourning) is an extract of a collaboration called Gemerre/Garraba that I did with Boorljoonngali. I titled the work Mambanha, a Wiradjuri word, a word that means so much, that means literally to cry or to mourn. And I feel like it wasn’t intentional, I just found a way to scale up and capture and harness my love for her. [The vessels] are really delicate and they’re of the earth as well. The red ochre is the ochre that was gifted to me when Boorljoonngali was alive, because we were just swapping things. I don’t really use red, but I was like, ‘Well, I’ve been given this by Boorljoonngali and I’m going to use it’, to pay respect to Boorljoonngali. Having multiples and just that repetition of making has been really healing for me, to just make something.

— Nicole Foreshew, 2021