SYDNEY FISH MARKET TO CELEBRATE ITS TRADITIONAL HERITAGE
04 Jun 2025
Visitors to the new Sydney Fish Market will be able to learn about the history of the area through five permanent installations that celebrate the site as a community gathering place.
Blackwattle Bay’s First Nations and maritime histories will be honoured through a series of creative installations within the precinct. The first three sculptures revealed, Saltwater People Stories, pay respect to the continued presence of local Aboriginal people and their ancestral fishing traditions in Blackwattle Bay and the surrounding area.
Three Aboriginal Australian artists have designed works which reference traditional cultural practices of the Aboriginal nations and communities connected to the new Sydney Fish Market site including:
- The Nawi a traditional nawi (fishing canoe) by Bidjigal elder Uncle Steven Russell
- Birrang Narrami (Star Net) a traditional woven fishing net by Wiradjuri, Yuin and Gadigal multi-disciplinary artist and master weaver Nadeena Dixon
- The Call of Ngura (Country) with eel-like forms representing the Dreamtime journey of the great Creator Gurangady, by Buruberong and Wumali (Dharug) creative Leanne Tobin.
The sculptures, cast in bronze at the North Head Foundry in Manly, will be installed on the eastern and western promenades of the new Sydney Fish Market later this year. Alongside the sculptures, an interactive water play area named ‘Land of the Giant Pippies’ and an installation honouring the site’s industrial history called ‘Coal Loader Palm Grove’ will be located on the eastern promenade.
Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said, “For thousands of years, the Saltwater clans of the Sydney region have been traditional custodians of this land, with Blackwattle Bay serving as a vital site for fishing, swimming and gathering. These installations will honour ancestral fishing traditions and share the stories of the Saltwater People with the millions of visitors anticipated at the new Sydney Fish Market."
