How are you shaped by sea?

Gugara calls to wake up the sun and herald new beginnings (of the day). This song has inturn awakened my spirit, my connection to ancestry, my muse and my confidence as an artist and songwriter.

—Nicole Smede

Nicole Smede is a multi-disciplinary artist of Worimi and European descent, living and creating on Gumea Dharawal Country. Proud of her heritage, Nicole’s work explores a reclamation and reconnection of ancestry and Country, through language, poetry and song. Her voice is featured in award winning film scores and her work has been broadcast on national and international radio. Nicole's poetry has been reimagined as meditations, music, visual and sound pieces and can be found in journals, anthologies and publications. What we Carry and 20x20x12 Sensing Place were both published in 2021. In 2022 Nicole was a recipient of the inaugural Space to Create residency through Australia Council, Yil Lull Studio and ANU and finalist in the Newcastle Poetry Prize.