Raymond Zada
Barkandji people, New South Wales
This work represents a direct line of Ancestors. Put simply, it is your parents and their parents and their parents and their parents . . . for ten generations.
Each of the 2,046 figures has been hand-drawn to pay homage to every Ancestor who contributed to my DNA over the past ten generations.
It doesn’t matter if you have ten siblings and each of your parents had ten siblings, or if you’re an only child and each of your parents was an only child. For all of us, the same number of Ancestors contributed to our DNA.
We are all connected to places and to others and we each belong to something bigger than our immediate family and our current home. We have a responsibility to respect others and to respect the Country we live on.
This work embeds multiple aspects of our several weeks on Country throughout 2022: the flowing Baaka, being on Country with family and documenting our ancestry, and the engravings and art we saw at Mutawintji.
Easy read
We are all connected to places and to others. We each belong to something bigger than our immediate family and our current home. We have a responsibility to respect others and to respect the Country we live on.
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Raymond Zada is an Adelaide‐based visual artist working primarily with photography, video, and digital design. He’s also an award‐winning radio broadcaster with 13 years’ experience in production, presentation, and technical operation.
In 2013, Raymond won the New Media category of the 30th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory for his work, Sorry. This powerful work examines the complexities of Australian history and the disconnect between language and reality.
In 2012, he won the Works on Paper category of the 29th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for his work, racebook. An edition of 10, racebook has been acquired by several public galleries in Australia and overseas as well as private collections.
Raymond was a writer, producer and performer in OutBlak Adventures which toured regional South Australia in 2010 and explored themes of family and sexuality. This confronting, educational and emotionally engaging production won a Ruby Award for Community Impact Under $100,000.
Born in Adelaide in 1971, Raymond grew up in Port Augusta and Marree, South Australia. He is Barkandji with Afghan and Scottish heritage.
Raymond Zada at Mutawintji, 2022
Photo: Nici Cumpston
Bloodline
2023
Adelaide, Kaurna Country
enamel on etched acrylic panels
(1-12) 208.9 x 317.4 cm (overall) (variable)
Welcome Space soundscape
2022
Recorded at Kinchega National Park, Barkandji/Barkindji Country
stereo sound, 15 minutes 45 seconds
All works courtesy the artist.
Raymond Zada, Zena Cumpston
Barkandji people, New South Wales
Baaka Herald
2023
Adelaide, Kaurna Country
Melbourne, Wurundjeri Country
newsprint
50.0 x 35.0 cm
Courtesy the artists.
Nici Cumpston, Zena Cumpston, David Doyle, Kent Morris, Adrianne Semmens, Raymond Zada
Barkandji/Barkindji/Malyangapa people, New South Wales
nets
2023
Broken Hill, Wilyakali Country
Adelaide, Kaurna Country
Melbourne, Wurundjeri Country
spiny-headed sedge (Cyperus gymnocaulos)
(1-2) 50.0 x 300.0 cm (each) (variable)
Courtesy the artists.
Photography by Christian Capurro at Bunjil Place Gallery, 2023.