Uncle Bruce Shillingsworth
Bruce Shillingsworth is a Muruwari and Budjiti man, a talented artist and water for the rivers activist.
His country is the north-west NSW river lands that hug the Namoi, Barwon, Darling Rivers; Brewarrina, Bourke, Enngonia, Wilcannia and Walgett.
Bruce’s family are painters, dancers and rainmakers. Bruce is a cultural educator in Sydney and leads a cultural revival dance group in the north-west.
Save the Rivers
The north-west river communities have been devastated by water stealing by big cotton farmers and irrigators. Successive governments have failed to preserve the integrity of the rivers on which First Nations people depend for their life and livelihood.
In October 2019, Bruce brought together communities along the river in a Corroboree to unite people to solve this unprecedented crisis. Details of the 2020 Corroboree will be posted soon.
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Art
"Many of my art works are related to the ancestral stories of my people and land, mainly depicting my Mother's life stories that had been passed down through generations.
Throughout my career, I have been concerned with articulating relationships to place, to people and to history, often at the same time. I make sure culture stays strong in my family line.
My work is composed of contemporary and traditional symbols, patterns and colours and through the use of oil and acrylic, I paint pictures with my detailed knowledge of the landscape and its embedded spiritual connections.
These are paintings about my country. I have been painting for a long time now. When I paint my pictures, I think about how to make a good painting, a strong one. Sometimes, I'm just thinking from memory about all the country I've been to and the stories I have. My paintings are spiritual and hold all the culture from my country"