‘Our Barka, the Darling River and the entire Murray–Darling basin is in crisis and every living being along this waterway is suffering. The Rivers are our livelihood; like a trusted relative, they support us by providing food, water and shelter. We rely on them to sustain us physically, emotionally and spiritually and in turn we are culturally responsible to care for them. One way we can nurture the Rivers is to humanise them, so they can be empowered to have rights that protect them from harmful human intervention. Portraits of our precious trees and waterways are created to give them reverence and to provide an important platform to share stories of Aboriginal occupation and ongoing survival on our land. Walking along the inland lakes and backwaters of the Murray, I am mindful of converging flows further upstream that carry messages from my precious Barka, our Darling River. Oh my Murray Darling pays tribute to my ancestors who knew how to sustain our environment and to the hope that we can change this dire situation before it is too late.’ – Artist's statement.

Nici Cumpston
Nici Cumpston OAM (Barkandji people) is an artist, curator, writer, and educator whose contemporary photographic works have been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has been Artistic Director of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art since 2013.