Bidhiinja - Restoring Our Oyster Reefs

Bidhiinja is a Dharawal language word for the oyster

The plight of oyster reefs has been nearly invisible. The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) joined forces to share the stories of these reefs and DPI’s efforts with project partners to restore them. This modular travelling exhibition tells the forgotten history of oyster reefs in NSW and the work underway to restore these important ecosystems. It invites audiences to learn about the past, present, and future of oyster reefs in Australia and the benefits that they provide to communities and the environment. As curator, Cay-Leigh ensured to forefront multi-disciplinary artists and designers to share Western science and Indigenous knowledge alongside ANMM’s Indigenous curators and program managers.

ANMM’s first Augmented Reality [AR] allows people to bring an oyster reef to life across the exhibition. The interactives show what can be found in a midden, turn the wheel to see what a healthy ecosystem looks like or open the door to explore the art and design of oyster shells.

Bidhiinja has travelled to eight locations visiting coastal communities along NSW, and made a permanent home at Murrook Cultural Centre.