Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick
by Ngioka Bunda-Heath
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Birrpai by Ngioka Bunda-Heath. Photo by James Henry.
Featuring in the Saltwater Freshwater Festival 2026, hosted by Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Aboriginal Corporation.
— Imagine seeing photos of your ancestors in museums, taken by people documenting an ‘exotic’ sighting
From whose lens do we view memory, history, and culture?
Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick is a talk, performance, and photographic exhibition refocusing the lens on the UNESCO-listed Thomas Dick Birrpai Photograph Collection. This collection of historical photos was taken from 1910 by non-Indigenous Port Macquarie oyster farmer Thomas Dick and to portray pre-contact Birrpai life and people.
Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick is a thought-provoking celebration and remembrance of family by the descendants of the photos: Birrpai Traditional Owner, historian and father John Heath; and his daughter, dancer and choreographer Ngioka Bunda-Heath.
Choreographer/ Performer: Ngioka Bunda-Heath
Elder / Performer: Dr John Heath
Lighting Design, Production Manager: Siobhan Geaney
Sound: Daniel Nixon
This tour of Birrpai – Dancing Beyond the Lens of Thomas Dick at Saltwater Freshwater Festival 20226 is supported by Dancehouse, the Besen Family Foundation, Regional Arts New South Wales, and the Chloe Munroe AO and Lucy Guerin Inc Independent Artist Fellowship. Birrpai was co-commissioned by Chunky Move and Next Wave with support from Creative Victoria, Merri-bek Council, and first premiered at YIRRAMBOI (2021) at Black Dot Gallery.
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Ngioka Bunda-Heath is Wakka Wakka, Ngugi from Queensland, and Birrpai from New South Wales. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts as the first Aboriginal woman in dance.She has worked for Bangarra Dance Theatre in “Rekindling” their youth education program, Circa Cairns as Community Engagement Lead, and is currently Producer and First Peoples Project Lead at Chunky Move. Ngioka received the Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship and Residency 2021, the Chloe Munro AO/Lucy Guerin Inc Independent Artist fellowship 2022, and the Brisbane Powerhouse Wandima Fellowship 2023. Ngioka has performed in works for companies DubaiKungkaMiyalk (DKM), Lucy Guerin Inc., and Joel Bray Dance, as well as for Independent Artist Sarah Aiken and Rebecca Jensen, among others. Internationally, she’s participated in dance conferences, festivals, and residencies in New Caledonia, France, Canada, America, and Japan. Ngioka’s choreographic work includes Blood Quantum (2019), Birrpai (2021), awarded Dance Best Duo/Ensemble at the Greenroom Awards, Bridge (2022), and Footprints (2022).
