Firestick

Firestick is a new six-part talk series featuring First Nations visionaries who are blazing a trail and lighting the way for future generations in diverse industries from video game design to global fashion.

Drawing on the long history of firestick farming, an Indigenous land management practice that uses controlled back-burning to promote new growth, this First Nations–led conversation series is designed to ignite dialogue and broaden perspectives. Held in the Gold Melting Room at The Mint, it provides a welcoming and timely platform that encourages meaningful discussion and a deeper understanding of Indigenous innovation and agency.

The series is designed to encourage informal post-talk gatherings and discussions between the speakers and audience, with a food and drink offer available in the courtyard.

First Nations displays

Eora by Michael Riley
Featured display

Eora by Michael Riley

Eora, by the late Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi filmmaker and photographer Michael Riley (1960–2004), is a 20-minute digital film that tells the story of Sydney’s First Nations people – before and after colonisation

Saturday 7 December
Madjeri
Featured display

Madjeri

Madjeri (pronounced mud-jer-ee) is the Dharawal word for canoe or small floating vessel

Saturday 3 August
10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

The Mint

10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
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  • Wheelchair accessible
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Read more from past exhibitions

Our Ngura
First Nations

Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country: The Library of the Dreaming

Dharawal and Yuin designer Alison Page shares the knowledge and philosophies that define Aboriginal understandings of Country and the life that is lived on it

Coomaditchie Lagoon
First Nations

Coomaditchie: The Art of Place

The works of the Coomaditchie artists speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories

Dennis Golding Cast in Cast out at the Museum of Sydney

Cast in cast out: recasting fragments of memory

An in-depth look at Dennis Golding's experiences and childhood memories of growing up in ‘The Block’

Close up view of Steven Russel and Phyllis Stewart 'Untitled (woven Sydney Opera House)', 2023 - The People's House marketing & installation photoshoot - The People's House marketing & installation photoshoot
First Nations

How to weave an opera house

Inspired by a stunning shellworked model of the Sydney Opera House by Bidjigal artist Esme Timbery, First Nations curator Tess Allas commissioned a woven model of the iconic building from master weavers Steven Russell and Phyllis Stewart

First Nations stories from our collections

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First Nations

Little footsteps, big futures: honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day

In this article, Beth Thornber, Access Advisor on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day through examining the role of young First Nations people in language preservation and revitalisation

Government and General Order regarding the 'civilisation of the Aborigines', 10 December 1814
First Nations

Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day

In this article, Dylan Hoskins, Project Assistant on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of National Sorry Day through his lived experience as an Aboriginal person

NRS 12061 [12/8749.1] 62/1515pt1, p334
First Nations

Advocacy, allyship and the rise and fall of the Aborigines Protection Board

In the lead-up to 26 January, the State Archives Collection provides opportunities to explore and reflect on past examples of advocacy and allyship in the fight for First Nations rights

[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.

Hearing the music of early New South Wales

A new website documents an exciting partnership between Museums of History NSW and the University of Sydney in an exploration of Indigenous song and European settler vocal and instrumental music in early colonial NSW