Repatriates Collective. Tide of Returns

“Tide of Returns” explores the role of art and water in shaping the processes of repatriation through the work of an artist collective, Indigenous communities, and filmmakers. The exhibition features newly commissioned multimedia works occupying both wings of the former Church of San Lorenzo.

In the west wing, the Repatriates Collective presents an immersive installation combining sand, video, sound, and thousands of characters made of shell and textile. Sand from Noeleen Lalara’s land anchors a vast dune transformed into a landscape of totems, clans, and songlines. Indigenous dolls created at the Anindilyakwa art centre and by Laimi Kakololo act as ancestral messengers and vessels of memory. These figures are animated in film, while a sound composition by Rebekah Wilson saturates the space with songs that bridge communities across continents.

In the east wing, a textile–video installation by Verena Melgarejo Weinandt traces gestures of care, belonging, and collective healing. Woven, blue-toned fabrics and black braids evoke flowing water and hair. A three-channel video embedded in the textile landscape depicts the braiding and washing of textiles in a river.