Dhanparr Garak speaks to transition, regeneration and circularity.

In Arnhem land, people are closely connected to the beings of the ancestral world, holding the belief that spirits can be seen in the night sky in the form of stars. To honour their ancestors, larrakitj (traditional funeral poles) are used in rituals as part of the ceremony of returning the soul of someone who has passed to the stars.

Drawing reference from larrakitj, Dhanparr Garak is a sculptural light that connects the earth and sky, dark and light, death and survival, nature and navigation.

Dhanparr Garak demonstrates the differing foundational perceptions of First Nations and settler
cultures. Through a First Nations lens themes of death and survival, light and dark are indivisible, whilst the colonial canon positions these as oppositional. Dhanparr Garak projects light out the top and the bottom of the larrakitj, suggesting two polarities. At the same time, projected light omits in a circular pattern - like the Milky Way - connecting past, present and future.

The gurtha (light) is ultimately a hopeful symbol that centres an honest connection to the past as a necessary point from which to move forward. Bonhula Yunupingu suggests that this path forward is illuminated by the ancestors and spiritual guides that flow in the rivers of Garak (the universe, the milky way).