More than a year after it opened to the public, the $344m gallery and contemporary extension to the Art Gallery of New South Wales has finally been named.
The gallery, which has been colloquially known as the Sydney Modern or the northern building since it opened in December 2022, has been named Naala Badu, meaning “seeing waters” in the language of the Dharug people. The building looks out on to Sydney Harbour.
Meanwhile the gallery’s original building, which was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon and built between 1896 and 1909, has been named Naala Nura, which means “seeing country” in Dharug, as it faces the Domain parklands.
As an overall institution, the AGNSW will still be known as such.
Guardian Australia has previously reported on the delays in officially naming Naala Badu, after political intervention from the former NSW government resulted in a dispute over which Indigenous language should be used.
In May 2022 the chair of the museum’s board of trustees, David Gonski, informed the then arts minister, Ben Franklin, that Naala Nura and Naala Badu were in the final stages of being approved by the board after a naming consultation group was formed with several Indigenous language and art experts, as well as Indigenous elders.
But a month later, Franklin requested the Gujaga Foundation, which represents the La Perouse Indigenous community, be consulted as well. Gujaga then put forward names in the Dharawal language, Nandhi Ngura (seeing country) and Nandhi Gadhu (seeing [salt] waters), arguing that Dharawal was spoken by the clans that lived in the area, including the Gadigal people.
A brief withdrawing the Dharawal names was later sent, saying it was “no longer appropriate to proceed with the adoption of Sydney Aboriginal language names … at this time”.
Ash Walker, CEO of the Gujaga Foundation said: “The language advice relied upon is incorrect as ‘badu’ refers to a large body of fresh water, which Sydney Harbour clearly is not (we have another word for a large body of saltwater).
“This is what happens when Aboriginal people with a cultural connection to Coastal Sydney are ignored and substandard advice from foreigners is adopted. Once our pre-existing rights as Traditional Owners of Coastal Sydney are recognised through the native title process, this mishandled naming exercise, and the cultural harm caused, will be one of the first matters we address.”
The AGNSW engaged “extensively” with key Aboriginal stakeholders and communities, the gallery said on Tuesday, including the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, and was supported by the gallery’s Indigenous Advisory Group and Indigenous staff.
The Guardian understands “Badu” was agreed on by multiple Indigenous consultants as being accurate for multiple bodies of water across NSW, not just the harbour.
“These new names for our two buildings draw on both their architecture and their location, on Gadigal country. Naala Badu references both the adjacent waters of Sydney Harbour and those that have always sustained communities throughout the state. Naala Nura acknowledges both Indigenous country in general and the golden sandstone of the art gallery’s original building, hewn from local country,” the gallery said in a statement.
“As an Indigenous Australian for whom English is my second language, having not had the opportunity to learn my first language, I applaud the gift of living, breathing language for the art gallery’s two buildings,” said artist and gallery trustee Tony Albert.
“Aboriginal language has a deep and spiritual connection to country. We hope this can be felt by everyone when the building names Naala Badu and Naala Nura are used by the community and visitors to the AGNSW,” said the gallery’s Indigenous advisory group chair Rachel Piercy.
The AGNSW director, Michael Brand, said the institution was “greatly honoured” to bear Aboriginal names on its two buildings.
“They evoke a powerful sense of place – this place of extraordinary physical beauty with its complex, contested histories. We intend to carry these names with the deepest respect,” he said.
Signage will be updated on both buildings on Tuesday to reflect the new names.
