Sharon Mason
"My artwork connects me to my family and culture. My family is at the core of everything I do. Making these shell fishhooks with my grandchildren and passing on the knowledge of my ancestors to new generations shapes everything I do."
Sharon Mason Yuin artist – Narooma, New South Wales, 2022
The east coast of Australia is a bountiful source of marine resources. Abalone sourced from Narooma on the South Coast of NSW is served in Australia’s top restaurants, but the abalone shell is also a container of practical knowledge among the local Yuin community members who have deeply held understanding of when, where, and how best to harvest abalone sustainably. Yuin community leader Sharon Mason shares knowledges of her artistic representations of a traditional fishing technology that requires many hours of skilful craftsmanship.
Sharon Mason is a Walbunja woman from the Yuin Nation and a cultural educator from the South Coast of New South Wales. She is regarded as her family’s knowledge holder and senior song women and performer. She grew up on the far south coast of NSW and La Perouse just south of Sydney. Sharon is an artist, creative producer, educator and dancer. Sharon founded the Djaadjawan Dancers in 2015, a female traditional Aboriginal dance group featuring members from the ages of 5 to 75. Djaadjawan Dancers - Djaadjawan being a dhurga language word meaning 'sand'. Sharon founded the dance group after attending an Aboriginal women’s camp in Narooma NSW where local Aboriginal women and children taught and shared their traditional knowledge and describes her work with Djaadjawan as being:
"like a spiritual ceremony, so many clans from all across the nation are able to perform traditional song, dance and language,"
Sharon Mason Yuin artist – Narooma, New South Wales, 2022
Sharon’s artistic representations of a traditional fishing technology required many hours of skilful craftsmanship. Her work which is currently on permanent display and is titled walkamara - meaning fish in the dhurga language. Sharon’s process for making abalone fish hooks is grounded in knowledge overseeing the traditional dance outfits which use abalone shell ornaments for the dancers. Sharon has a passion for re igniting knowledge relating to sustainable practices of preserving traditional knowledge of for bush tucker and harvesting ocean resources passed down from her mother Vivian and generations of great grandmothers.
The east coast of Australia is a bountiful source of marine resources. Abalone sourced from Narooma on the South Coast of NSW is served in Australia’s top restaurants, but the abalone shell is also a container of practical knowledge among the local Yuin community members who have deeply held understanding of when, where, and how best to harvest these sustainably.