My creative practice takes place on the lands of the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri Woiwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, their ancestors and families, acknowledging their deep and ongoing spiritual connection to Country. I extend my respects to Wathaurong Waddawurrung peoples, whose lands I was birthed and raised upon that have deeply shaped me and my experiences.

I acknowledge Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri custodianship of the lands, waterways and skies that I continue to live, work and benefit from, recognising that sovereignty was never ceded. I come with an intention to deepen my understanding of ancestral pathways as a diasporic being, while sharing, learning and creating on unceded lands (Melbourne, Australia).

I extend this acknowledgement and pay my respects to peer African and Indigenous peoples across the globe viewing this website.

!Norasa Khâimâ: ǂAiho Aboxan "Dawid Stuurman"

Campbelltown Arts Centre, Dharawal Country - Campbelltown
,
5 Jul- 14 Sep 2025.

Mixed media installation with single channel HD video, five channel sound, stainless steel and print aluminium composite material. Dimensions variable, 10:00 mins (looped).

The life of Khoikhoi chief David Stuurman is a largely untold story of African resilience. Stuurman’s resistance to British colonial rule in Southern Africa led to his exile and death on Gadigal Country (Sydney) in 1830. Through the stark and unforgiving gaps within the colonial archive, I pursued the places Stuurman once inhabited; Hyde Park Barracks where he was imprisoned to government labour, the remains of the Rum Hospital where he sadly passed on, to visiting my motherland of South Africa— travelling from ||Hui !Gaeb (Cape Town) to Robben Island where he was imprisoned, escaping twice before being sentenced to Transportation. In my yearning for arterial routes following the traces of ancestors, I held Stuurman’s ‘Ticket of Leave’ with both wonder and dejection, poignantly underscoring the erasure of a hero denied the very freedom he so fiercely fought for.

‍!Norasa Khâimâ: ǂAiho Aboxan "Dawid Stuurman" (Unbound Resistance: Remembering "Ancestor David Stuurman,") 2025 invites viewers to listen to a re-imagined letter from Stuurman (that exists within State Archives) in his Khoikhoi language while meditating upon the ocean waters that surge between Robben Island and Hoerikwaggo (Table Mountain). Adjacent, Stuurman’s ‘Ticket of Leave’ is memorialised, supported by a framework reminiscent of commemorative headstones. I invite you to mourn and acknowledge the profound and continuous loss of human life in this moment, while encouraging us to honour the presence of those who fight for justice; to find strength in their enduring trace, survival, and memory.

!Norasa Khâimâ: ǂAiho Aboxan "Dawid Stuurman" was exhibited in the group exhibition in every room, guest curated by Eddie Abd, with Emily Rolfe and Isabelle Morgan, presenting artists Lara Chamas, Jagath Dheerasekara, Kuba Dorabialski, Sancintya Mohini Simpson and Curtis Taylor.

[ Download .PDF ]

Roberta Joy Rich, !Norasa Khâimâ: ǂAiho Aboxan "Dawid Stuurman," 2025, ‘in every room’, installation view, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2025. Photo's by Silversalt Photography.

Roberta Joy Rich, !Norasa Khâimâ: ǂAiho Aboxan "Dawid Stuurman," 2025, ‘in every room’, opening event, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2025. Photo by Nicholas Smith.

‍