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The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy


  • Heart Space Copa 206 Del Monte Place Copacabana, NSW, 2251 Australia (map)

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Viewing Hours

Mon – Sat: 1:30 – 4:30PM
Sun: 10:00AM – 3:30PM

Tickets

This exhibition is free and open to all. Come witness, reflect, and stand in solidarity.

The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy

A powerful, immersive exhibition presented by Ripple Narratives as part of NAIDOC Week 2025. It brings together two distinct but deeply connected portrait series, the Pilbara Portrait Series and The Shaede Project, to explore identity, justice, cultural continuity, and the legacy we leave behind.

These works call audiences to witness the lived experiences of remote Aboriginal communities and the resilience of Blak and Queer expression. The Pilbara Portraits provide a raw, humanising window into life in some of Australia’s most disadvantaged regions, while The Shaede Project disrupts colonial binaries with a striking celebration of fluidity, sovereignty, and self-expression.

This exhibition places viewers at the centre of the narrative, surrounded by faces, stories, and truths too often pushed to the margins. Designed as an immersive space, with loosely grouped portraits and grounding elements like red desert sand, it invites both reflection and confrontation.

The NAIDOC 2025 theme, “The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy,” is not just a title, it is embedded in every thread of this exhibition, from the children captured in the Pilbara to the powerful presence of Shaede reclaiming space and story.

PILBARA PORTRAITS

Artists: Ripple Narratives
Medium: Photography
Print Specification: Canson® Infinity Edition Etching Rag 310 gsm - Matte Year: 2025
Displayed: rear to entrance

  • Whirlwind Wonder
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Thumbs Up Warrior
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Unflinching
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • No Words, Just Fire
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Glint and Grit
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • The Watcher
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • What the Eyes Hold
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Strength in Her Smile
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Seen Enough
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • Elder of the Eyes
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • She Who Remembers
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

  • The Matriarch
    20.32 x 25.4 cm

Contextual Photos
15.24 x 20.32 cm

1. Hedland House, 2. Termite Mound, 3. Murujuga Wide, 4. Murujuga, 5. Fence Climb, 6. Jigalong Car, 7. Jigalong Church, 8. Jigalong Family, 9. Jigalong Creek, 10. Jigalong Football 11. Jigalong Football Team, 12. Jigalong Kids, 13. Jigalong Road, 14. Jigalong Shed, 15. Karijini Canyon Tree, 16. Karijini Canyon, 17. Karijini Dirt Road, 18. Karijini Long Road, 19. Karijini Rocks, 20. Tap Drink, 21. Warralong, 22. Yaandina Youth

THE SHAEDE PROJECT

Artists: Ripple Narratives x Dylan "Shaede" Hoskins
Medium: Photography
Print Specification: Canson® Infinity Platine Fibre Rag 310 gsm - Satin Year: 2025
Displayed: entrance to rear

  • Ceremony for One
    76 x 51cm

  • Do You See, Me?
    76 x 51cm

  • The Gaze
    51 x 76cm

  • Veil of the Ancestors
    51 x 76cm

  • Crowned Warrior
    76 x 51cm

  • Rising Sovereign
    76 x 51cm

  • Adornment and Armour
    76 x 51cm
    (front window)

THE ARTISTS

Ripple Narratives

Ripple Narratives is a visual storytelling agency co-founded by Luke Gemmill and Scott Lahiff, rooted in community, culture, and connection. Working across portraiture, documentary, and immersive storytelling, Ripple Narratives brings underrepresented voices to the forefront through collaborative, culturally sensitive practice.

Scott Lahiff

Scott is a photographer with a focus on storytelling through human connection. With a documentary eye and collaborative ethos, his work captures honest, evocative imagery that reflects the lived experiences of individuals and communities.

Luke Gemmill

Luke is a proud Palawa man and multidisciplinary storyteller. A filmmaker, photographer, and cultural advocate, Luke’s work spans commercial, cultural, and community storytelling, centring First Nations perspectives with authenticity and care.

Dylan "Shaede" Hoskins

Dylan Hoskins is a Dunghutti, Bundjalung, and Gumbayngirr multidisciplinary artist. He/They are a gender nonconforming, Queer Blak storyteller and curator of connection through music, story, and space. Dylan's work spans cultural production, performance, and activism. Their practice resists categorisation — rooted in presence, care, and cultural responsibility. At its heart, Dylan's work is about creating spaces where creativity can breathe, where community can gather, and where art can be a form of truth-telling. Instagram: @itshaede | Ambassador: @blaqmobs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ripple Narratives wishes to thank the communities of the Pilbara, in particular the families, children, and Elders who welcomed us. Thank you to our collaborators Dylan “Shaede” Hoskins and Jesse Lethbridge, Josef Graf-Cooper, Hearts Space Copa and to the organisations who helped facilitate our travel and access across Country. We honour the cultural protocols and lived truths shared with us.

Special thanks to:

  • Pilbara Community Legal Service

  • Wirraka Maya Health Service Aboriginal Corporation

  • Yaandina Community Services

  • Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions (DBCA) Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BINTAC) Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation (YAC)

  • Eastern Guruma Aboriginal Corporation (EGAC)

  • Martu people of Jigalong and Warralong remote communities

  • Kariyarra Nation

  • Ngarda-Ngarli people

  • Darug Custodians

  • Dunghutti Elders

Sacred Sites Featured:

  • Karijini National Park (with permission)

  • Murujuga (with permission)

WHY IT MATTER

Luke Gemmill, co-founder of Ripple Narratives, shares:

“This work is about more than sharing images—it’s about starting a conversation. These portraits are a way of making sure the faces and stories of children in the Pilbara, and of Blak + Queer identities, aren’t overlooked. It’s about meeting them on equal ground and asking: what legacy are we leaving for the next generation?”