Three Things I Love: Community leader shares her top Perth experiences

In this series, WAtoday reaches out to the Perth community to discover three things people love most about our coastal capital. Today we feature Ilona McGuire, an artist and cultural leader whose drone-light performance First Lights opened the 2021 Fremantle Biennale then toured regional WA. McGuire, a Bibbulmun Noongar and Kungarakan woman and the daughter of Walter and Meg McGuire, founders of Go Cultural Tours, has work held in collections including the Janet Holmes à Court Collection and John Curtin Gallery. She leads Blak Dingo Club, a social and events club that celebrates Indigenous achievement and is running a month-long program of free film screenings and a community quiz night in the City of Melville.

Blak Dingo events (L and R) and McGuire making a Blak Dingo sign.

I love Mudurup (Cottesloe area), and every Saturday morning I get up and walk for ages on the beach and be mindful, think about the place I’m in, and about my ancestors here; like so many places in Perth, this was a significant gathering area. I love looking at the seagrass in the shallow waters, a simple thing but also rare and vulnerable. When we had some mob visiting from Queensland who have been advocating for bringing back seagrass to the Great Barrier Reef, they mentioned how special it was to see it here. I also look at the shells, and I don’t often collect or take those, but I do collect sea glass. I look at Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) when it’s a clear day and think about the things our people have been through here, and about how despite everything that’s happened, I am still here to find this place home, and share stories, language and culture. I can share, for example, that the name of this place is Mudurup, and I’m privileged that my family holds that knowledge.

McGuire’s beachcombings.

I love our new river conservation project BoorYul-Bah-Bilya (Magic River). My family owns Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Corporation and this project has been in the works for some time. We’ve partnered with our family friends who are environmental scientists, and we envision it will also empower the community to improve the health of the river: from Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) to the Derbarl Yirrgan (Swan River) to Walyalup (Fremantle). It’s about sharing knowledge about the state of the river, which parts are healthy and which need more love and care, like the city area in particular. It will empower the public to monitor and take ownership of areas. We will be running workshops, cleanups and teaching people about water testing. This river is the heart of our country, and the water in it stretches to neighbouring clans and language groups that benefit from its level of health. So too will future generations, so this is an exciting intergenerational piece of work that will grow and expand.

I love Kidogo Art House, in Walyalup (Fremantle). It’s a gallery, exhibition and live music venue that also hosts events and functions and dining experiences, all in this beautiful building – one of the oldest heritage buildings in Fremantle. It has had many lives, but it is now such a hub for art, storytelling and music, run by my family friend Joanna Robertson. I love it for its creative community. We have helped with its Hand in Hand Irish Aboriginal Festival which celebrates the friendship and cultural similarities, and often blood ties, between these two communities. It’s always a great time, and you end up meeting and connecting with new people every time you go there.

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