This exhibition of new work by Dharug artist Billy Bain reflects on the migration of the long-finned eel – a passage from saltwater to freshwater that mirrors his own path of cultural return. By the River draws on Bain’s experience growing up off Country on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where surfing shaped his early connection to place. Over time, he came to consider that he, like the eel, has journeyed from the sea to the freshwaters of the Dyarubbin/Hawkesbury River. This meeting of fresh- and saltwater is a powerful metaphor for Bain’s process of reconnecting with the stories and culture of his ancestors, the Boorooberongal people.
By the River marks Bain’s first exhibition at a state art museum and presents a bold new body of sculpture and paintings. Drawing on his keen observations of place, surf culture, coastal iconographies and Indigenous storytelling, Bain reimagines the beach and river as sovereign Indigenous spaces alive with memory, belonging and cultural resurgence.
Central to the exhibition is Bain’s commitment to intergenerational knowledge-sharing and skills development for New South Wales Aboriginal peoples. Textile elements created in collaboration with Bain’s mother, Kathleen Bain, employ a Dharug way of being where shared acts of making and exchange express how culture flows like water through the generations.
Here, culture is not static, but fluid – continuously flowing, adapting and finding its way home.
This exhibition is part of the Art Gallery’s Contemporary Projects series, which highlights the work of artists from NSW and wider Australia.
Event Details:
Dates: 4 July – 22 November 2026
Location: Art Gallery of New South Wales - Naala Badu building - Lower level 2