waynapuni pools
Commodores transformed into a bathhouse, built and led by Aboriginal youth. Tyres scream, hot metal dripping; wrecked cars breathe heat into visions of care and transformation. We bathe, torn open, soft, with Country.
On unceded Gadigal Country, a car graveyard is reimagined as a public bathhouse. Falcons and Commodores, once icons of speed and combustion, become hot pools, cold plunges, saunas and steam rooms.
This is a youth-led and built space; engines to water, metal to breath, wreckage to ritual. Step inside, and you are held by a ceremony led by First Nations youth, artists, Country and community.
Over nine months in Lutruwita/Tasmania, Palawa youth cut and welded waynapuni pools into being. Now this mob crosses the water as leaders, returning to the metal with local Aboriginal youth on Gadigal Country to build its next life.
"waynapuni" (why-nah-pu-nee) means “smoke” in palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines.
LEAD ARTIST
Benjamin Paul
CULTURAL CONSULTANTS
Theresa Sainty (Milangkani Projects)
Uncle Matthew Doyle
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Ashley Rayner (GWS Fabrications)
Tracey Murtz
Wills McKay
GRADUATE FABRICATORS + BATHMASTERS
Malachi Robinson
Khynan Langdon
Wyatt Rainey
EMERGING FABRICATORS + BATHMASTERS
Students from Sydney Secondary College
FABRICATION SUPPORT
Jonathon Tate
Andrew Barnes
Amber Perez-Wright
Clive Perryman
CEREMONY LEADERS
Uncle Matthew Doyle
Wuratji Truwalata (Cody Gangell-Smith)
Students from Montrose Bay High School
PRODUCER
Sophie Ambler
CO-PRODUCERS
Mia Donnet-Jones
Donovan Miller
VIDEOGRAPHY
Joseph Shrimpton (Flare Productions)
PHOTOGRAPHY
Rosie Hastie
Jesse Hunniford
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sprinks World
SYDNEY FESTIVAL TEAM
Aidan Rowlingson (First Nations Curator)
Matilda Brown (First Nations Producer)
Nathalie Taylor (Production Manager)
Andrew White (Project Manager)
Lily Keenan (Special Projects Producer)
SPECIAL THANKS
OHM Projects
Caitlin Fargher
Matthew Rice
Betty Grumble
Tim Nicholas
Mike Hewson
Sabine Bester
waynapuni pools was first created over nine months on Muwinina Country with Aboriginal students at Montrose Bay High School, in partnership with Karadi Aboriginal Corporation in 2025. For a full list of credits, partners and special thanks for our premiere, please visit this page.
Past event films
- The Making Of (2025)
- The Ceremony (2025)
Benjamin Paul
CULTURAL CONSULTANTS
Theresa Sainty (Milangkani Projects)
Uncle Matthew Doyle
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Ashley Rayner (GWS Fabrications)
Tracey Murtz
Wills McKay
GRADUATE FABRICATORS + BATHMASTERS
Malachi Robinson
Khynan Langdon
Wyatt Rainey
EMERGING FABRICATORS + BATHMASTERS
Students from Sydney Secondary College
FABRICATION SUPPORT
Jonathon Tate
Andrew Barnes
Amber Perez-Wright
Clive Perryman
CEREMONY LEADERS
Uncle Matthew Doyle
Wuratji Truwalata (Cody Gangell-Smith)
Students from Montrose Bay High School
PRODUCER
Sophie Ambler
CO-PRODUCERS
Mia Donnet-Jones
Donovan Miller
VIDEOGRAPHY
Joseph Shrimpton (Flare Productions)
PHOTOGRAPHY
Rosie Hastie
Jesse Hunniford
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sprinks World
SYDNEY FESTIVAL TEAM
Aidan Rowlingson (First Nations Curator)
Matilda Brown (First Nations Producer)
Nathalie Taylor (Production Manager)
Andrew White (Project Manager)
Lily Keenan (Special Projects Producer)
SPECIAL THANKS
OHM Projects
Caitlin Fargher
Matthew Rice
Betty Grumble
Tim Nicholas
Mike Hewson
Sabine Bester
waynapuni pools was first created over nine months on Muwinina Country with Aboriginal students at Montrose Bay High School, in partnership with Karadi Aboriginal Corporation in 2025. For a full list of credits, partners and special thanks for our premiere, please visit this page.
Past event films
- The Making Of (2025)
- The Ceremony (2025)
