Donna Biles Fernando honoured at MGNSW awards
Published on 03 December 2024
Donna Biles Fernando, a proud Muruwari and Ngemba woman, was recently honoured at the Museum and Galleries of NSW (MGNSW) awards.
Donna was awarded the Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts Association (ACHAA) Award for her outstanding contribution to NSW Aboriginal culture, heritage, and arts.
Her family was there to accept in her honour.
Read the below statement from MGNSW to learn about how Donna played a pivotal role in inspiring and honouring Aboriginal voices in the arts.
MAC yapang is proud to continue her legacy of First Nations projects.
Statement from the MGNSW website (2024):
The ACHAA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to NSW Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts
Donna Biles Fernando
A proud Muruwari and Ngemba woman from Brewarrina, Donna Biles Fernando is remembered as a leading curator, writer, arts administrator and cultural advocate.
As a curator, Donna’s work was like herself: fearless, passionate and sensitive. Her exhibitions at the then Lake Macquarie Art Gallery with Director Debbie Abraham and other members of the Aboriginal Reference Group attracted state and national attention.
Brave truth-telling exhibitions such as yapang marruma: making our way (stories of the Stolen), Lore & Order and we. wiyelliko, quickly set a benchmark for Aboriginal exhibitions in regional galleries that didn’t just consult with Aboriginal communities but that were truly First Nations First, more than a decade before the term was enshrined in policy. Her work also featured in the Newcastle Art Gallery, The Lock-Up and The Australian Museum.
Donna went on with the same team to codevelop a highly respected First Nations framework for consultative, programming and governance processes known as yapang*.
It was so influential that when the gallery changed its name, it became, and remains known as today, as the MAC – Museum of Art and Culture, yapang.
After such lived experiences, it was a given that Donna, again alongside Debbie Abraham would be instrumental in embedding Terri Janke’s First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries into the National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries 2.0.
Most recently, she collaborated with colleagues at M&G NSW and ACHAA, visiting Aboriginal Cultural Centres across the state, personally auditing collections and selecting works that highlighted the breadth of First Nations artistic expression and cultural heritage for a proposed touring exhibition. It is intended the exhibition will continue to develop and tour, a final yapang in her memory.
*yapang means journey or pathway in the Awabakal Language
Retrieved from: Winners 2024 - MGNSW
Image: IMAGinE Awards 2024. Photo by Jacquie Manning